Breakfast Club
by Coopereid
Summary: AU based on the movie. Spencer, Derek, Emily, JJ, and Garcia - five people who couldn't be more different - all end up in Saturday detention under Principal Rossi's watchful eye. How do they go about it, and more importantly, what happens at school on Monday?
1. Introductions

**Spencer**

Detention. Spencer Reid couldn't believe that he was spending his Saturday morning in detention. Him of all people! He could understand why other people would end up there, but the fact that he was going to be categorized with those people was appalling to even think about. His mother had offered to drop him off, but he opted to walk to school instead, as it was only a quarter of a mile away. He'd brought his backpack with him, along with his lunch, that way he could get his extra credit work done while he was forced to sit in the library for several hours.

When he arrived in the library, he saw that there was one other person there. He'd seen her around the school before, but nobody really talked to her. She spent her lunches in the computer lab or stuck to the back of the classroom, doodling in a sketchbook or reading a comic. The one thing he could say about her was that she wore her individuality like a shield, as she seemed to throw anything together in the morning and go to school that way. There were several empty tables still available, so he sat down at a table across from her, taking a seat and pulling his jacket off, setting his backpack on the seat beside him and crossing his arms, leaning on them.

**JJ**

All she had done was skip a class – and it wasn't even a _good_ class. She decided that going to the mall was better than sitting in a classroom and learning differential equations. She was able to pick out an outfit – a really cute outfit – for her friend's party next weekend, but soon after, she had been caught by mall security and her parents were called. They'd gotten in touch with Principal Rossi, and, well, now here she was. She had gotten a lecture from both her mother and her father, and it ended in the two of them arguing. They tried to tell her that she was going to get kicked off of the soccer team and lose all chances of a scholarship, but Principal Rossi was going to let it slide and stay off her record _if_ she served a Saturday detention.

So, here she was, in the front seat of her dad's car, arms crossed. The reasoning for the detention was ridiculous: it was just one class. The teacher had gone over the same material the next day, so it was like she never even missed it. Leaning her head back against the seat, she let her eyes slip shut.

Her father parked the car and turned to her. "This family's gone through enough with your sister, Jenny. We didn't need to deal with this on top of it."

She gritted her teeth and did her best to bite her tongue. "This doesn't have _anything_ to do with her, _stop_ using her anytime you're mad at me."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. Go, do this, and after, you can take my credit card and go shopping, okay?"

"Fantastic." She turned away from him and rolled her eyes, picking up her bags and slamming the door behind her.

**Derek**

Ever since his father died, Derek would gladly admit that he had a bit of a temper. He'd joined sports to try to make his father proud, even if he wasn't around to watch them, and in doing so, he made a lot of idiot jock friends. They would all get into trouble here and there, but because they were athletes, they'd always be let off the hook and told 'good luck at the next match'. The one thing he couldn't understand was why this time was different. It was a harmless prank: he and a few of his buddies had cornered one of the small geeky kids and decided to have a little fun with him. Unfortunately, the kid didn't see it as 'fun' and in some way, the incident was reported to the principal, Derek guessed by the kid's parents. They'd all been called into the office for it, but considering Derek was the captain and the ringleader, he'd earned the Saturday detention while the rest of them were just held for a few hours after school.

His mom had offered to drive him, and he really wished she hadn't. No matter what happened, and no matter what shit he pulled at school or otherwise, his mother didn't have it in her to be mad at him. She supported him in all of his endeavors, and showed up at every single match she could, when she wasn't working or at something involving his sisters. She pulled up in front of the school, sighing and parking.

"Derek, I'm not mad at you," she started, gripping the steering wheel, "I know boys will be boys, and that's just goofing around, but you really could've hurt that boy. Do you realize that?"

He nodded, looking down at his lap.

She reached over, running a hand over his head. "Be good, because I want this to be the _last_ time I drive you to school on a Saturday for anything other than a wrestling match, you hear me?"

He nodded again, giving her a smile and a quick hug, grabbing his bag and walking into the school. He saw Jennifer Jareau, or JJ as friends called her, sitting at one of the front tables. They weren't exactly close, but they ran in the same social circles. He motioned toward the empty seat beside her and she shrugged before nodding. He took the seat and dropped his bag down, sighing and willing this day to be over already.

**Emily **

Four schools in two years – her mother thought this would be a _great_ idea, and not something that would cause any problems for her precious little daughter. It didn't matter to Elizabeth Prentiss what her daughter had wanted, oh no, it was all about where the 'better' job offer was, and Emily was sick of it. She'd tried talking to her mother outright about it, but anytime she tried, her mother's phone would ring and she'd hold up a finger, telling Emily to just 'hold on for a sec'. Emily decided to give up trying, and instead, opted to find other ways to get noticed. Lately, the only way that seemed to work was getting into trouble. She'd started dressing in all black, and when that didn't work, a slight hoodlum look seemed to be what did the trick. Her mother would complain that she had plenty of _nice_ clothes to wear, but Emily would just roll her eyes and say she was going to be late for school, grabbing her backpack and storming out of the house.

Her mother had been ignoring her for two straight weeks, and her new husband hadn't been much of a catch. She wasn't getting _any_ attention from her mother at all, and it was all going to work or whatever his name was. She had to act out for attention, and it got to a point where acting out just became the norm. There were numerous Saturday detentions for minor infractions, like skipping class to smoke a cigarette, or being found with one of her fake IDs. The one that had apparently been such a big deal that her mother needed to be contacted was a pulled fire alarm. All she'd wanted was to have a little fun and get out of P.E. for the day, and she did the rest of the student body a favor, but the teachers didn't see it that way. After checking the security footage, Emily was called down to the office, lectured, and told that she'd be serving detention on Saturday. Rolling her eyes, she'd walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her. On Saturday, she trudged across the empty parking lot after her cigarette, walking into the library in the nick of time. As she walked in, she made as much noise as she could, spinning magazine racks and rearranging things on the librarian's desk, picking up a notepad and sticking it in her pocket. After that she walked up to her usual seat and saw a nerdy kid sitting there. She immediately kicked him out and sat down, putting her legs up on the table.

* * *

Spencer looked around the library, taking in his company for the day. Jennifer Jareau was sitting at the front table with Derek Morgan. At their high school, there was no way you _couldn't_ know the two of them. Not only was Jennifer Jareau arguably the prettiest girl in school, but she had been homecoming queen and she was the captain of the girls' soccer team. She was the girl that everyone had a crush on, and they would all admit it. Spencer had been asked to tutor her in European History during sophomore year, but she only showed up to the first session. After that, there would always be excuses, such as the fact that she was too busy, had to meet up with somebody in one of her clubs, or the one time one of her jock friends went into the library to tell Spencer to leave her alone. All he'd wanted to do was help her improve her grade, but it was clear that all she wanted to do was spend time anywhere but with him. Then there was Derek Morgan, the man who didn't really need a description. He was the captain of the wrestling team, football team, and he played hockey for the hell of it. He had never had an interaction with Derek before, and god willing, he wouldn't: just his size alone was enough to tell Spencer to stay away from him. If given the option, he could think of any other two people on the planet he'd rather be serving detention with than Mr. and Mrs. Popularity. He didn't care for social standings, but their friends had seemed to make it their goal to make his high school experience a living hell, so much that he had become flustered, and in the long run, ended up in detention today.

Sitting directly across from his table was a new girl, and through the grapevine, he knew that her name was Emily something. Rumor had it that she had been kicked out of three schools in the past two years, while other said it was just transfers because of her mom's job. Nobody really knew what the deal was with her, and by the looks of her, she didn't want anybody to find out. Spencer had seen her around school, and every single time, she had been up to no good, between pulling the fire alarm that probably resulted in her detention and trying to hack into the vending machines for free food and soda. He didn't see the point, as rumor had it her mother had money, but he would be willing to bet that it was an attention thing. One thing was for sure, though: he wasn't going to bring it up or ever find out for himself.

Finally, there was the girl who was now seated behind him. If he recalled correctly, her name was 'Penny', and whether that was actually her name or her nickname, he wasn't entirely sure. She always stayed to herself and doodled in the margins of her notebooks instead of taking notes. In the one class he'd had with her, Biology, she always managed to get one of the best grades in the class, as Mr. Ryan handed back the tests in numerical grade order, and she was always one or two behind him at the top of the stack. He wasn't sure if she had any friends, or if she even wanted them. Her individuality was what she used to keep people at a distance, between her outrageous fashion sense and her bubbly personality. He'd heard a rumor a while back that she may be 'on' something, though he didn't unsure what that meant, and therefore wasn't sure if he believed it. Whatever the case may be, this crowd of people was definitely going to make for an extremely awkward nine hours.


	2. Blowout

They all looked up as Principal Rossi walked in, dressed in one of his best suits. Nobody quite understood why he wore them: he was a high school principal, not a member of Congress. He had several sheets of paper in one hand, and several pencils in the other. At this, Spencer froze. A _test_? Was he really going to give them a _test_ in detention? This really wasn't fair!

Principal Rossi stood in front of the table Derek and JJ were seated at. "Well, here we are," he started, looking around at all of them. "Congratulations to all of you for actually being on time." He seemed to eye Emily for a minute, but that was quickly interrupted by JJ.

She raised her hand. "Excuse me, sir? I think there's some sort of mistake," she started, looking up at him and setting her hand down. "I understand that it's detention and I need to be punished for what I did wrong, but I don't think I really belong in here…"

Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes, as Rossi checked his watch.

"You five have exactly eight hours and fifty-six minutes to think about why you're here today, and think of the error of your ways that led you to this library on your Saturday morning."

Emily leaned back in her seat, putting her feet up on another chair and loudly groaning.

Rossi pointed to JJ. "I don't want to hear any talking," he motioned toward Spencer, "I don't want you moving from your seats." Spencer quickly paused, shifting back to his seat and blushing slightly. "And you will not sleep," he finished, pulling the chair out from under Emily's feet. He looked around at all of them before setting down a paper in front of each of them. "Today, we're going to try something different than the norm. I want each of you to write an essay with a bare minimum of a thousand words," he started, setting down a paper and a pencil in front of Garcia. She quickly looked up at him before distracting herself with her fingernails, which were painted with likenesses of comic book characters on them. "I want you to describe who you think you really are." He walked over, setting down another in front of Emily.

She eyed him. "…Is this a test?"

He ignored her, distributing the rest of the papers and pencils. "When I say essay, I want to see an essay. I don't want to see one word repeated a thousand times." He glanced at Emily again, who had moved her combat booted feet to the table. "Is that completely clear, Miss Prentiss?"

She gave him a thumbs up. "Absolutely crystal clear, sir," she muttered sarcastically, avoiding looking at him.

"Good. Maybe you'll all learn a little something about yourselves, and maybe, perhaps, decide whether or not you care to return to Saturday detention again."

Spencer immediately raised his hand, standing up. "I can answer that question for you right now, Mr. Rossi, sir. I can honestly say that I don't wish to return. It's a no for me, because-"

Rossi looked at him. "Sit down, Reid."

He nodded and muttered a quick thank you before sitting down again.

Rossi pointed out to the hallway. "My office door is going to be open, and as you all know from your recent visits, the office is right across the hall from this library. I don't want to hear anything. Any questions?"

They all looked down at the tables, shaking their heads, except for one of them.

"Yeah, I have a question," Emily started. "Does Ringo Starr know that you've raided his wardrobe, or is that just a well kept secret?"

Derek gave a soft chuckle, but luckily, Rossi had been distracted with his answer. "I'll give you the answer to that question next Saturday morning, Miss Prentiss." She shrugged slightly. "Don't mess with the bull unless you want the horns." At that, he turned around, walking out.

"_God_ that man has fucking problems," Emily muttered as soon as he was out of earshot.

They all watched as he walked out and sat there in an awkward silence.

* * *

Garcia stared at her nails for a minute before sighing, reaching into her purse and digging through, setting several things on the table while searching for her nail clippers and file. When she finally found them, she threw everything back in, opening the clippers and starting to cut off her uneven nail. It always killed her when she did up her nails perfectly and had to remove a piece of the artwork, but she could just go home after this and repaint them with a new theme: maybe this time, it'd be Marvel instead of DC. She filed them down, humming show tunes to herself, before starting to clip the nail that was bothering her. The constant clicking sound of the clippers seemed to get the attention of everyone in the room, as she looked up and saw all of them staring at her. Shrugging it off, she kept working. She wasn't going to care what any of them thought, because mainly, none of them cared about her.

"You couldn't have _possibly_ done that at another time?" Emily asked. "That had to be done _right_ now? It was an absolute nail emergency in the world of oddballs?"

She rolled her eyes, sweeping the clippings off of the table and onto the floor, throwing the clippers back into her purse.

Emily raised an eyebrow, pointing to her. "You know, I've seen you before."

She ignored the comment, not knowing if it was a genuine comment or just a setup for another moment in her life where she was the punchline of the joke. She fully dismissed it when Emily leaned back in her seat, as if she'd never said a word to her. The rest of her company had turned away from her too, so she decided to occupy herself with what she enjoyed most: taking out her notebook and working on her own comic. She was sick of all the stick thin and handsome superheroes, so she'd opted to make her own character – one with charisma and spunk who wasn't a size zero. She could swear she felt everyone staring at her again, but she didn't give a single damn. Let them.

* * *

Spencer sat at the table, twirling his pen in his fingers, thinking to himself. There were several ways that he could approach this essay. For one, he could write about himself autobiographically, and give Principal Rossi a slight history of himself leading up to the person he is now. On the other hand, he could write it from someone else's perspective and show how others see him, or at least his assumption of it. Another approach would be lying his way through it, noting that everything in his life is going just fine, that he wasn't constantly the target of bullying, and that he wished he'd never done what landed him in detention in the first place. Figuring this was the kind of bullshit answer that he wanted, he brainstormed the right way to start it.

Looking up, he saw Emily staring at him from her table and nodded nervously, before shifting his attention down to the blank sheet of paper in front of him and trying to come up with the best start. He went to take off his jacket and saw Emily doing the same, and knowing the angry face of bullies well, he knew not to do something at the same time as her. He'd yet to aggravate her and see what she was capable of, and he didn't want to start now.

Emily looked down at the blank sheet of paper in front of her and rolled her eyes. An essay? He wanted an essay about who she really was? She highly doubted that he wanted to read a thousand words stating that her mother didn't give a shit, her father never tried to get in touch with her, and mom's new husband was a pervert. No, that definitely wasn't happening, mainly because she knew Rossi didn't give two shits about her home life and only cared about making her school life a living hell. Frustrated, she crumpled up the paper into a ball, aiming between Derek and JJ and throwing it. She then started humming to herself loudly, not caring if it bothered anybody else in the room.

JJ sighed, turning to Derek. "I can't believe this is really happening to me right now."

Emily hummed louder, hitting her hand against the table as a drum, causing everyone to turn to look at her.

"What?" Derek snapped.

She smirked. "You're kind of sexy when you're angry."

He rolled his eyes, turning back around.

Emily then turned her attention to Spencer, whose pen was hovering over his paper. "Why don't you get that door over there for us, homeboy?" she asked, pointing to it.

Spencer raised an eyebrow, pointing to himself.

"Yeah, you. I think we can have some fun harassing the princess over here."

JJ turned around, glaring at her.

"Hey!" Derek snapped.

"Yes?"

"Don't make me angry," he warned her.

"Let me guess, I won't like you when you get angry, and you'll turn into the hulk?"

"Why don't you just shut up?" JJ told her. "Nobody here is interested in what you have to say."

Emily made a face, feigning pain, before turning her attention back to her table.

"Seriously," Derek mumbled, turning back around.

Emily scoffed. "What did you do to get in here, big shot? Did you forget to wash your jock strap, or were you too busy grabbing someone else's? I've heard some talk about you, buddy, and nothing's really that peachy."

Spencer cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me, I think we should just all settle down and write our papers before Principal Rossi comes in here."

Derek turned to face her again. "Just because you practically live here doesn't give you the right to be a pain in the ass, so why don't you knock it off?"

She shrugged. "It's a free country, isn't it? That is, of course, known to those of us who actually pay attention in history class and don't just coast along because the teachers like us for touching other guys."

"She's just doing it to get a reaction from you," JJ explained, "just ignore her and she'll shut up."

Emily smirked. "You couldn't ignore me even if you tried."

Garcia twirled her hair around her finger, looking over at the scene unfolding, before shifting her attention back to her drawing.

"So," Emily started, looking between them, "are you guys like, boyfriend and girlfriend? Going steady? Sleeping together?" She pouted. "Come on, you pumped up side of beef, tell me. You've done it, haven't you?"

"Go to hell!" JJ snapped.

"Enough!" Derek yelled.

Emily laughed to herself as Rossi leaned back in his chair, trying to look in. "Hey! What's going on in there? Spoiled little pricks," he mumbled before going back to his newspaper.

"Scumbag," Derek said under his breath, turning back around.

Rather than reacting, Emily got up from her seat. "What do you say we close that door, huh? We can't enjoy ourselves even the slightest bit with Rossi checking in every few minutes to make sure we're not 'roughhousing' or 'misbehaving'," she said, hopping up on the railing.

Spencer looked up at him. "He said that door's supposed to stay open, though, so I think we should respect that."

"So?" she asked.

"So why don't you just sit down and shut up?" Derek told her. "There's four other people in here, you know."

She gasped. "You can count?! I knew you had to have some smarts to be a wrestler."

"And who are you to judge anybody anyway?"

"Really," JJ muttered.

"You know, Prentiss, you don't even count," Derek retorted. "If you were to disappear forever, it wouldn't make any difference to anyone. To be completely honest? You may as well not exist at this school."

Emily wouldn't admit it, but those words stung. They hit somewhere she didn't even know could hurt. Rather than giving him what he wanted, she shook it off, exhaling. "Well, maybe I'll just go join the wrestling team." She ignored their laughs. "Maybe even the prep club and student council."

"They wouldn't take you," Derek immediately responded.

"I'm hurt."

"You know why people like you need to rag on everything that matters to other people?" JJ asked, looking up at her.

"Oh, I'm sure this answer is going to be enlightening," Emily said, crossing her legs. "Do continue."

"Because you're afraid."

She gasped. "You know what? You rich bitches are so smart. That is exactly why I'm not heavy in these fantastic school activities."

"You're just a coward."

"I'm in the Math Club," Spencer spoke up.

"You're afraid that they won't take you or accept you because you don't belong. Instead, you choose to dump on it, insulting other people's interests."

"Well," Emily started, leaning back, "It wouldn't have anything to do with all of you people involved in activities being assholes, now would it?"

"You wouldn't know," JJ responded, "you never tried to get to know any of us."

"True, but I don't know any lepers either, and I'm not eager to join any of their fucking clubs."

"Why don't you watch the mouth?" Derek stated.

"…I'm in the Physics Club too," Spencer added, immediately regretting it when Emily turned to look at him.

She held up a finger to JJ and Derek. "Excuse me just a second. What are you babbling about over there, whiz kid?"

"What I said earlier was that I was in the Math Club, the Latin Club, and I just added that I'm in the Physics Club as well."

Emily leaned forward to JJ. "Hey, Blondie, are you in the Physics Club?"

"That's an academic club."

"So?" she asked, shrugging.

She rolled her eyes. "Academic clubs and other clubs aren't the same."

"Oh, but to dorky little kids like him, they are." JJ glanced over at the kid, swearing that she recognized him from somewhere, but couldn't put her finger on it. "What do you all do in your little club?" Emily asked.

"Well, in the Physics Club? We talk about Physics, like the properties of Physics and things of the such, and it's actually quite interesting."

"So it's sort of social, if you think about it. Demented and a little sad, but it's social, right?"

He ignored the hurtful words. "I guess you could consider it a social environment, yes. There are other people in the club and we discuss things, and we um, have a banquet at the end of the year at the hotel down the street."

"So you load up and you party hard?"

He shook his head. "No, we actually get dressed up. No drugs or alcohol or anything."

"Only burnouts like you need to get high," JJ snapped.

Spencer cleared his throat. "I have a cousin named Kendall, he lives in Indiana and he got high once." Garcia stuck her pen in her mouth, pretend shooting Spencer to put him out of his misery. "He ate like a lot of really weird food and he was sort of kinda in the Twilight Zone, you know?"

"Sounds like you," JJ said, looking at Emily.

Derek rolled his eyes, hoping to get the kid to stop talking. "You guys keep up your talking and Rossi's going to come in here. I've got a meet next Saturday and I'm not going to miss it because you assholes won't stop blabbing."

"Wouldn't that be tragic?" Emily said sarcastically. "Missing a _whole_ meet? You poor thing."

"You wouldn't know a damn thing about it, not competing in anything your entire life."

She mock cried. "And I'm so empty inside because of it. I have such a deep understanding and love for guys who decide to spend their spare time rolling around on the floor, grunting and groaning with other guys."

"You'd never miss it, mainly because you've never had any life goals."

"Oh, but I do! I want to be just like you, sporto. I just need some really tight tights and possibly a lobotomy."

Spencer smiled slightly at the image in his mind. "You wear _tights_?"

"No, I don't wear tights. I wear the required uniform."

Spencer raised an eyebrow before responding. "So, tights."

He tried to think of a response, but had nothing. "Shut up."

Garcia smiled to herself, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She couldn't have had a more entertaining Saturday if she'd tried.

* * *

Everyone's attention turned when they heard movement in Rossi's office. Emily immediately hopped off of the railing, taking the seat between JJ and Derek. Neither of them had time to react negatively as they thought he was coming in. When they heard footsteps going down the hallway, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Emily shot up from her seat, exhaling and walking toward the door.

"There's not supposed to be any trouble," Spencer reminded her.

Emily pointed a finger at him. "Excuse me, young man, have you finished your paper?" She walked out into the hallway and, seeing that it was empty, she reached for the screw in the door.

"Come on, Prentiss, don't screw around," Derek warned.

"What the hell are you doing?" JJ asked.

"Dropping dead, I hope," Derek mumbled in response.

"Prentiss, that's the school's property, and it doesn't belong to us. We can't tamper with school property, it's in section 4 of the student handbook assigned every year. It's not to be ruined or played with."

She ignored him, pulling the screw out of the top that held it open.

"Very funny, now fix it," Derek yelled.

"You should really fix that," Spencer added.

"Am I a genius?" she asked them, sitting back down.

"No, you're an ass, fix the fucking door!"

"Everyone just shut up. I've been here plenty and I know what I'm doing."

"No, fix the door!" Derek snapped again.

"Shut up," she snapped, leaning back in her seat.

* * *

"God damnit!" They heard from the other side of the door. They all knew Rossi had returned from wherever he'd gone and realized the door was closed. He walked in, pointing to it. "Why is that door closed?"

They all stayed silent.

"Why is that door closed?" he yelled, louder this time.

Emily shrugged. "How are we supposed to know? We're not supposed to move from these seats."

He turned to JJ. "Why?"

She jumped slightly before giving him an answer. "We're just sitting here like we're supposed to."

He walked over to the side that Spencer and Garcia were sitting on, eyeing the two of them. "Who closed that door?"

"I think a screw fell out of it," Emily suggested.

Derek cleared his throat. "It just closed, sir."

"Who?!" he repeated, still looking at the two.

Spencer sat there silently while Garcia squeaked, setting her head down on the table.

"She hasn't talked all morning, sir, I don't think she _can_ talk."

He walked up to Emily, hand out. "Give me the screw."

"I don't have it."

"Prentiss, I will find it on you if I have to."

She shrugged. "Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place."

"Give it to me, Prentiss," he warned.

JJ turned to face him. "Excuse me, sir. Why would anybody want to steal a screw?"

"Watch it, young lady."

Emily looked up at JJ, who had pretty much just saved her ass, but all she gave her was a glare.

Rossi walked over, attempting to hold the door open with a chair unsuccessfully. Garcia peeked out from under her hood to watch, and she was glad she did. Though Emily warned him not to, he put a folding chair in front of it, watching as the door shut and pushed the chair away while doing so. All of them held back laughter when he started to very loudly swear at the situation. He called for Derek to come help him, moving a magazine catalog to hold the door open. They did get it in, but he had trouble getting back into the library. Emily warned him about the trouble if there was a fire, and he instantly snapped at Derek for putting it there. After putting it back, he shoved Derek back toward his seat, lecturing him that he expected better behavior from a varsity athlete. Though slightly wounded by the remark, Derek showed him no fear.

Rossi turned his attention back to Emily. "You're not fooling anybody, Prentiss. Keep this up and the next screw to fall out of place is going to be you."

"Bite me," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" he asked, walking around and standing next to her table.

"Bite me," she told him, looking up at him defiantly.

"You just bought yourself another Saturday in this library."

She scoffed. "I'm devastated."

"You just bought one more with that comment."

"Well, I'm free the next Saturday, but after that, I'll have to check my calendar."

"Good, because it's going to be full. We'll keep going as long as you'd like. Do you want another one? Just say it. Instead of marching your ass to juvenile hall? You'll come here," he told her, pointing to the table.

She was definitely getting upset, wondering why the principal, who was well into his 50's, if not older, enjoyed harassing her so much. She wasn't necessarily a bad kid, she was just cocky, and put up a front of not giving a shit. In reality, she did give a shit, but it hurt too much to care what everyone else thought of her. She crossed her arms, remaining silent.

"Are you through?"

"No."

"I'm doing the world a favor locking you up in here."

She crossed her arms, keeping a straight face. "So?"

"And that's another one right now. I've got you here for the rest of your life if you don't watch your step. You want another one?"

She knew whatever answer she gave, it would happen. "Yes."

"You've got it. You got another one right there. That's another one."

"Cut it out!" JJ snapped. When Emily looked at her, all she did was mouth "stop".

"Are you through?"

She shook her head, turning her attention back to him. "Not even close."

"Good, you got one more right there."

She shrugged. "Do you really think I give a shit?"

"Another." She narrowed her eyes to a glare as he pointed at her. "Are you through?"

"I'm not sure. How many is that?" she asked.

Spencer spoke up. "That's seven, including the one when we first came in when you asked Mr. Rossi here whether Ringo Starr knew that he raided his closet."

"Now it's eight." He spoke up before shooting a glare at Spencer. "Stay out of it."

Spencer cleared his throat. "Excuse me, sir, it's seven," he said softly, holding up seven fingers.

"Shut up, peewee."

Spencer immediately shrunk back, eyeing his paper and wishing he'd never said anything.

Rossi glanced at Emily again, smirking. "You're mine, Prentiss. For two months, I've got you."

"What can I say? I'm thrilled beyond words."

"Oh, I'm sure that's exactly what you want these people to believe. You know something, Prentiss? You ought to spend a little more time trying to do something with yourself and a little less time trying to impress people. You might be better off."

She avoided looking at him, refusing to show him any fear or weakness, letting him win.

"All right, that's it," he announced to the room. "I'm going to be right outside those doors. The next time I have to come in here, I'm cracking skulls." Emily imitated the last part, and Garcia, looking over, assumed she must've heard that same speech every time she was in here. From the looks of it, she knew Emily couldn't be all that bad, and just had to put up with a lot of shit from a lot of people who never truly tried to understand who she was.

Rossi turned to look at them one more time before the door closed behind him. It couldn't have happened any sooner, because Emily had finally snapped. "Fuck you!" she shouted at the closed door. She waited for a reaction, but when one didn't come, she just exhaled, staring down at the table and muttering to herself. "Fuck."

Everyone stayed quiet, all unsure of how to take in the situation. In that moment, they saw a different side of Emily, almost a vulnerable side of her. Arguing with Rossi, they realized that she wasn't always the instigator, and he seemed to live just to egg her on. JJ studied her face, and suddenly noticed that Emily was, in fact, human. She was seconds from just crumbling under the pressure. She wasn't an asshole for the sake of being an asshole: she was an asshole because that was how she saw her way of survival in high school.


	3. Passing Time

Looking up at the clock, they could all swear that time was ticking backwards. How was it that it wasn't even 8:00 yet and they were already this spent? Around the room, they were all trying to find things to occupy their time, but it wasn't making time go by any faster. Emily lit up one of her cigarettes, leaning back in her seat and inhaling. After that argument with Rossi, she needed something to take the edge off, and she figured this was a much better alternative than getting into a physical altercation with the principal. JJ sat at her table, her head rested against her hand, fighting to keep her eyes open. She stared off at something in the distance and tried to find something to keep herself awake, but it wasn't working. Spencer fidgeted with his pen, still drawing a blank on how he was going to start this essay. He was already pissed off enough at himself for ending up in here – he wasn't going to fail himself and not get this done. Then there was Derek, idly picking out the loose threads in his letterman jacket, and when that was done, he'd reach in and play with the strings in the hood of his sweatshirt. Last but not least, there was Garcia, working on one of her sketches. She was extremely glad that she remembered to grab her sketchbook on the way out of the house that morning, because she'd be bored out of her skull otherwise. Slowly but surely, they were all fading, and they'd all dozed off at their tables.

Principal Rossi stood at the front of the library, shaking his head. They were all asleep at their tables, Emily taking up the back two tables to make herself comfortable. "Wake up!" he shouted, but received no answer. Frustrated, he had to come up with a way to get them all alert. He paused before finally having his answer. "Who has to use the bathroom?"

They all raised their hands and quickly woke up, getting out of their seats. He escorted them down the hallway and stood outside the bathrooms, leaning against the wall.

Spencer took the opportunity to splash some water on his face, hoping to keep himself awake. He'd failed himself ending up here, and he'd done it again by falling asleep in detention, which would probably get him in more trouble. That was the last thing he needed right now, so he needed to find a way to stay alert.

Derek walked over, washing his hands and drying them off, bunching up the paper towel and throwing it away.

"He shoots, he scores," Derek said to himself, smirking. Spencer smiled awkwardly, following him out.

Meanwhile, in the girls' room, Garcia was at the mirror, fixing her bright colored clip-in extensions and fixing her lipstick. Curious, JJ looked at her, almost studying her. Her platinum blonde hair was accentuated with pink, purple, and orange highlights, and all of the jewelry she wore was plastic and fake. It was all bright and loud, much like she guessed her personality was.

"You're Garcia, right? That artist chick everyone's always talking about. You spend lunch in the library on the computers hacking or something."

She closed her lipstick, smacking her lips together.

"Is that what got you in here?"

"It's Penelope, but my friends call me Penny," she started, before lowering her voice, "or at least they would if they existed in this universe."

It was the first time that JJ had ever heard her speak, and she was surprised by how sad she sounded. Was this really how the rest of the student population felt – did they all feel like lonely outsiders because they weren't in cliques and didn't have friends?

All thoughts were erased when Rossi knocked on the door. "Ladies, two minute warning."

Garcia stowed her things back into her bag, wiping off her glasses before putting them back on.

JJ knocked on the stall Emily had holed herself up in. "Rossi wants us out of here."

"Give me a minute!" Emily snapped.

Garcia walked out, JJ close behind her, leaving Emily alone. She stepped out of the stall, taking a deep breath and sighing. There were some days that she hated herself, and with the argument she had just had with a grown man who sees her as worthless, this was one of those days. She could've cut again, but she decided against it, and opted to do something she hadn't in a while: cry. Stepping up to the mirror, she splashed some water on her face and exhaled, before reaching for a paper towel and dabbing her face clean. She wasn't going to show him that he got to her, because then he would win. No, she wasn't having any of that. Instead, she composed herself, walking out and back to the library, taking her seat.

* * *

Emily sat on the librarian's desk, a Russian book in her hand. The one thing she appreciated her mother for was the year she was overseas, because she'd been able to stay in Italy and Russia. She did some regrettable things that she'd never forgive herself for, but at the same time, she learned two new languages and was exposed to new cultures. She remembered the first time she really cried in front of her mother was when she said they were moving back to the states and, once again, she'd have to pick up and leave.

At the same time, Derek was using the railings to stretch out his legs, probably to warm himself up for practice later that day. He eyed Emily and smirked to himself.

"Didn't know you could even read, Prentiss."

She rolled her eyes. "I could say the same about you. Reading is pretty hard. It has _nothing_ to with touching other guys in the junk or sleeping with cheerleaders on the weekends."

"Real nice," he muttered, reaching down and stretching his back.

"You're right, I shouldn't just assume it's the cheerleaders. It's probably student council too, right? Actually, it's probably anything with a vagina willing to put out, and I'm sure considering your social status, that's an _awful_ lot for you."

Derek shook his head, going back to ignoring her. He turned to JJ, leaning against the railing. "Are you still grounded tonight?"

She shrugged. "My dad says yes, but my mom says not to listen to him, so I'm going with no?"

He eyed Emily before turning back to JJ. "There's this huge party at Anderson's house tonight. His parents are out of town and you know how he's always trying to prove himself and show that he can throw a killer bash. It's supposed to be pretty crazy."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, you going?"

She shook her head. "I really doubt it."

"Why not?"

She sighed. "Well, if I do what dad says not to do just because mom _says_ to do it, it's going to just blow up into another argument and I really don't want to deal with that again tonight. I wish they'd just divorce and get this over with."

Emily looked at her. "Who do you prefer?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you prefer your mom or your dad?" she asked, setting down the book.

"They're both pretty fucked up if you ask me, ever since-" she stopped, clearing her throat. "Neither. If I had to make the choice between them? I'd go live with my aunt. They don't give a shit and they just use me in their twisted little game to get back at each other. I'm not their daughter, I'm their bargaining chip."

Garcia scoffed, the first anyone else in the library had heard her talk all day. She fidgeted with her fingers before exhaling, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"Shut up," JJ snapped.

Derek smirked. "You're just having a pity party over here."

"If I didn't, nobody else would."

He rolled his eyes. "How heartbreaking."

Emily hopped off of the counter. "What about you, pighead? Do you get along with your parents?"

"I would if I had parents, as in plural." He zipped up his hoodie. "But it's just my mom."

"So, daddy couldn't take it anymore and took off on you, is that it?" she asked, walking to the other side of the library.

Derek's face immediately changed to pure anger.

"Someone's touchy," she observed, leaning against one of the tables.

Derek took a few deep breaths, digging his nails into his hands and trying not to let the anger get the best of him.

Spencer walked over, resting a hand on each of their shoulders, trying to be a peacemaker. "Listen, guys," he ignored when they both swatted his arm away, "we all have issues with our parents, okay? I mean, it sucks for everyone, doesn't it?"

Emily gave him a look. "Please, you're every parent's wet dream." She patted his arm. "Nice try though."

He paused, biting his cheek. He wanted to spit out '_would you mind telling that to my asshole of a father who lives ten minutes down the road and hasn't called in seven years_', but held back. He just saw JJ pour her heart out and get stomped on, and didn't want the same treatment.

"Poindexter, parents wish their kids were you, so other than the funny way your mother dresses you, what problem do you have?" she asked, motioning toward him.

Spencer sat down on the table, looking down at the floor.

Derek glared at him. "_Why_ do you feel a need to insult everyone?"

"It's called honesty, and it's out there in the real world."

"You could at least call him by his name," he argued, nodding his head toward Spencer. "What's your name, kid?"

"Spencer," he said softly, chancing a look up at him.

"See? He's human and he has a name."

Emily patted his arm. "My condolences, you poor thing."

"What about you?" JJ asked.

"What about me?" Emily responded, turning to face her.

"What's your full name, if we're getting on a first name basis around here?"

"That depends on yours, because I know your parents are morons, but I'd like to think they could do better than double letters."

She gave her a look before giving her name. "Jennifer."

Emily leaned over, patting the desk. "I wish you luck in life, because that is definitely the name of a bitch. You seem to hold the title well though."

JJ shook her head, glaring and flipping her off.

"Such an obscene gesture from a petite, perfect little princess."

"I'm not perfect," she spat out.

Emily braced her hands on the table. "Do we still have our v-card over here?"

She kept her eyes in a glare, giving no reaction as Emily kept going into detail about the things she may or may not have done with guys.

"Leave her alone," Derek said before standing up. "Don't talk to her, don't look at her, and don't even think about her. Understand?"

Emily clicked her tongue. "I'm trying to help her."

"She doesn't need your help, so leave her alone." At that, Derek sat back down, resting a hand on JJ's back and gesturing her to turn around, facing away from Emily.

* * *

The library stayed quiet until one of the doors opened a while later. One of the janitors walked in, blasting The Beatles' White Album on his iPod speakers, walking into the office and dumping the trash. When he walked out, he turned to Spencer.

"Reid, how you doing?"

He gave him an awkward smile before looking back at the table.

Emily smirked. "Your dad works here?"

He made a face at her, shaking his head. _No, he's down the street with his new family being a prick._

"Hey, Hotch?" Emily asked, leaning back in the seat. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me another one," he said, shrugging.

"How does somebody _become_ a janitor?"

"Why, are you looking into it? Bright future for you." By the way there was a smile on his face, everyone in the room could tell they interacted quite often, probably on the Saturdays Emily spent here.

"I just want to know how it happens, because Derek over here doesn't have a very promising future, and I think the custodial arts would be a fantastic career move."

"Really?" Hotch asked, turning to Derek, who immediately turned away. "You all just think I'm a peasant, a common folk, or even a peon in society? Think it all you want, but following you little jerks around for the past eight years of my life, I've learned a few things. I have the keys to every locker. I read the notes you throw in the garbage when you're done. I listen in to your little conversations that you think are private. You may not think it, but I'm the eyes and ears of this building. Rossi may have the name and the title, but he doesn't know shit about what goes on in his hallways, so long as they're pristine and to his liking." He saw the shocked looks on their faces and smiled to himself, checking his watch and looking at the clock in the room. "More fun for you. The clock in here is twenty minutes fast. Enjoy."

Derek couldn't help but chuckle, and Garcia was enjoying a gigglefit of her own. In the conversations she'd had with Hotch when she was spending her lunches in the library, she knew all of this, and watching their reactions was priceless.

Spencer checked his wristwatch then looked up at the clock, groaning. "Shit."


	4. Break

Rossi walked into the library to find everyone whistling in sync. As soon as he was spotted, Emily changed the tune to Beethoven's Fifth. "All right, ladies, you've got a half hour for lunch."

Derek looked around. "But, in here?"

"Yes, here."

He glanced up at him. "With all due respect, sir, I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable environment for us to eat lunch."

"Good thing I don't care what you think, Derek." Emily raised her hand. "What, Prentiss?"

"Will milk be made available to us?"

"We're very thirsty, sir," Derek added.

"And I get easily dehydrated," JJ finished.

Derek smirked. "I've seen it before and it's not pretty."

Emily put up a hand. "Don't worry, I'll volunteer."

Rossi pointed a finger at him. "Definitely not. I wasn't born yesterday." He motioned toward Derek. "You."

Derek sighed, motioning toward JJ to go with him.

"And you," he finished, pointing to Garcia. She didn't instantly respond and he snapped his fingers. "Come on, wake up, you. On your feet."

She sighed, picking up her bag and putting it over shoulder. She's pretty sure it spoke volumes that the principal of her school could name everyone else in this room for their accomplishments or lack thereof, but he didn't even know her name.

"There's a soda machine in the teacher's lounge. Let's go."

Derek walked down the hall, Garcia trailing behind him. He hit his hands together, trying to come up with a topic to interest her, considering he hadn't heard a single word out of her all morning. He turned around to face her before turning his gaze back forward.

"What's your poison?" When that didn't warrant a response, he put it plainly. "What do you want to drink?" That gave him silence too and he rolled his eyes. "Forget I asked."

"Vodka."

He raised an eyebrow, turning around to face her. "Vodka? When do you have time to drink vodka?"

She shrugged. "Whenever," she said, passing him.

"A lot?"

She smirked. "Tons."

"Is that why you're here today? Why are you here?"

"Why are _you_ here?" she immediately snapped.

He exhaled, leaning against the wall. "Well, I'm here today because, um, because my coach doesn't want me to blow my full ride scholarship. I get special treatment because, apparently, the coach sees me as a winner. I'm not a winner because I choose to be, I am because I have speed, strength, and agility. That's about how involved I am with what's happening."

"Yeah? How does your dad feel about all that?"

He shrugged. "Don't know, he's not here anymore." He nodded his head up. "He's been gone since I was ten, so I guess I do all of this to make up for that and in some way, make him proud."

"That's really great, but why don't you tell me what landed you in here?"

He scoffed. "Just forget it."

Just when she thought she was making progress with him, he shook his head and walked off.

* * *

Meanwhile in the library, Emily was sitting on one of the tables with encyclopedias, while JJ was leaning against a statue and Spencer was sitting on one of the railings, showing off his mismatched socks.

"So, Jennifer, you ever seen a picture of a guy with elephantitis of the nuts?"

She shook her head. "No, thanks," she mumbled before shifting her focus to her nails.

"But would you ever consider dating a guy like that?"

She made a face. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"He could have a great personality, enjoy dancing, and have his own car…"

"You know what I wish I was doing?" she said, hoping to change the subject.

Emily put up a finger. "You might want to watch what you say here. Spencer over here is definitely a cherry."

"A _cherry_?" Spencer asked.

"I wish I was on a plane to France…"

"I'm _not_ a cherry."

"When's the last time you got laid?"

He paused. "I've laid a lot of times."

She sat up. "Name one for me."

"…They live in Canada. We met at Niagara Falls."

"Yeah, but have you ever laid anyone around here?"

Growing more and more uncomfortable with the conversation, Spencer put a finger to his lips, knowing this wasn't a conversation JJ wanted to hear.

"Oh, so you and Jenny over here did it?" she asked, pointing between them.

"What are you talking about?" JJ asked, tuning back into the conversation.

Spencer quickly shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. Just drop it, we can talk later."

"Well, Spencer over here? He's trying to tell me that aside from the Canadian ass he's been getting that you two have done the deed."

JJ gave him a disgusted look. "Pig."

"No, I'm not!" he quickly defended himself. "Emily said I was a cherry and I said I wasn't, that's it."

"Then why were you motioning to Jennifer?"

"I don't appreciate this, Spencer. I get it enough from other guys, I don't need it from you too."

Spencer could hear the hurt in her voice while Emily kept trying to argue with him about it. Sighing, he admitted defeat. "Yes, yes I pointed to you," he started, trying to explain it to her, "but it wasn't implying anything, sexual or otherwise. All I did was try to tutor you in a class one time and that was all. I just, I didn't think it needed to be public knowledge in this library that I'm still a virgin." Emily gave him a look. "What, excuse me for being a virgin. With my social standings, I think it's plenty understandable."

JJ studied him for a minute before it finally dawned on her where she'd seen Spencer before. When she was doing poorly in European History, Mr. Gideon insisted on her seeing a tutor. She'd gone to one session, gotten sick of it, and had one of her football player friends take care of the tutor. Little did she know that it had been Spencer, and she immediately felt like a huge ass. "Why didn't you want me to know you're a virgin?"

"Because that's my personal, private business, and it doesn't involve anyone else."

"Clearly," Emily mumbled.

"I think it's more than okay for a guy to still be a virgin," JJ assured him.

"…Really?"

She eyed Emily before giving him a smile, nodding.

* * *

Derek walked in, setting all of the cans down on the front table, sitting down and picking up his bag, looking through. Emily leaned forward in her chair, eyeing JJ.

"What do you have?" she asked, motioning toward the shopping bag in front of her.

"It's called 'food'," she told her, unpacking her bag.

Emily reached over, grabbing one of the cans and throwing it back to Garcia, who caught it and set it down. She turned her attention back to JJ, who had taken out her lunch.

"What is that?"

JJ finished pouring her soy sauce. "…It's sushi."

"Sushi? You won't make out with a guy, but you're going to eat raw food wrapped in sea junk? Brave."

"Can I eat now?"

"I don't know. Give it a shot."

JJ picked up her chopsticks, wrapping a hair elastic around them and eating.

Derek took a final look in his bag before unloading it: a large bag of chips, three sandwiches with varying lunch meats, a bag of cookies from the bakery, a half gallon of milk, a banana, and finally an apple. He cleared his throat, moving his seat closer to the table. Everyone looked over, wondering how one single person could eat so much.

Back at Garcia's table, she popped open her soda, sucking up the fizz as it poured over. She opened her bag and took out her sandwich, immediately picking the meat off of her sandwich and tossing it, disgusted. She grabbed a handful of cereal, smashing it against the bread, before ripping open some pixy stix and pouring them over the top. She'd gotten the attention of everyone in the library with it, but she didn't care. She found something she enjoyed to eat and she went with it.

Emily walked over, taking the seat beside Spencer, setting her soda in front of him and taking his lunch bag. "What do we have here?"

He shrugged. "A standard, regular lunch, I guess." He wasn't sure what the definition of that was, but he had thrown it together that morning before leaving for school. His mother had still been in bed, so he tried to be as quiet as possible doing so.

Emily reached in the bag, taking out a thermos and setting it down on the table. "Milk?"

He shook his head. "Soup – chicken noodle." He went to reach over while Emily dug through again, but she slapped his hand away. She pulled out a juice box, studying it. "That's um, that's apple juice."

"I can read, thank you." She put it on the table, taking out the last thing in the bag: a sandwich. "Peanut butter and jelly with no crusts? That's just fantastic, nutritious, and extremely well-balanced. Your mother must really love you a lot to go through _this_ much effort. Did your mother, by chance, marry Mr. Rogers?"

"Um, no, Mr. Reid."

JJ and Derek shared a look, smirking.

* * *

Emily shot up from her seat. "I have an impression of a day in the life of little Reid here." She walked to the back, clearing her throat.

"Son!"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"How was your day, buddy?"

"Great, Dad! What about yours?"

"Super duper!"

Spencer gave a weak smile, not wanting this to get to him. The last conversation he'd had with his father was seven years ago, as he was walking out the door. He tried talking to him about sharing custody with his mother, or doing something together so he didn't completely lose him. Instead, he took one final look at Spencer, patting him on the shoulder before walking out the door. Even though he lived ten minutes away, he never tried to get in touch. There wasn't a birthday card in the mail or even a phone call asking how he was. Emily could think what she wanted about him, but it couldn't be farther from the truth. He saw Garcia eyeing him and wondered if she could see how upset he was, so he did his best to put up a front of not caring, though he was probably failing miserably.

Derek saw how worried Spencer started to look and wanted to take some of the edge and attention off of him. "Okay, what about your family?" Derek asked.

"What, mine?" Emily asked, pointing to herself.

"Yeah, yours."

She stood up. "Well, that's just _super_ easy. Let me present to you, the stepfather." She cleared her throat, standing up straight. "'You worthless, ugly, slutty, piece of shit, good for nothing fucking tramp. You lazy, disrespectful bitch.' Then we have him trying to feel me up when my mother's not looking, and then when he's caught? 'Elizabeth, she came onto _me_, you know how she is. You remember Italy, don't you?' She'll give me a look of disgust and instantly it's 'you're right, honey, let's go'." Emily's voice starting changing, getting shaky and panicked as she told everyone much more than she wished she had.

"Is that for real?" Spencer asked.

"You want to come over some time and check it out for yourself?"

"It's bullshit," Derek spoke up. "Putting up the front of a broken home but it's all your image. Everyone knows your mom's loaded and you're a rich girl."

Emily turned her attention to him. "You don't believe me?"

"Not a word."

She walked over, pulling up her shirt sleeve. "Do you see this? Apparently, stepdaddy putting out his cigar on my arm was his way of telling me that I complain too much and I'm an ungrateful piece of shit. And when I cried to my mother about it?" She laughed to herself. "Emily, I'm busy right now, go to your room and we'll talk later. But guess what? With mother dearest, later never comes, because it's _always_ something else." She was seething and pulled her sleeve down, stepping backwards. "I'm done dealing with you fucking people." She put up her hands, walking over the stairs and sitting on one of the landings, putting her feet out and pressing her head against the railing, catching her breath and stopping herself from getting more upset.

"You shouldn't have said that," JJ said softly, looking down at her lap.

"How was I supposed to know? She tends to be a liar."

They all sat there, once again in an extremely awkward silence, the only sound in the library was Emily's heavy breathing as she willed herself not to cry in front of them.


	5. Adventures

Once Emily had calmed herself down, she took a deep breath, walking down the stairs and peeking out the door. She saw Rossi was still at his desk and turned to everyone else. "I think it's time for an adventure."

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked.

She pointed out to the hallway. "If my calculations are correct, my buddy Dave out there is going to get up and go for a walk in about ten minutes. He'll round the trophy case, get a drink of water, check his reflection in a fire extinguisher door, then whistle to himself while he makes his way back to his desk. That gives us time to run to my locker and back."

JJ looked up at her. "What's in your locker?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out. Anyone else in? Unless, of course, you want to stay glued to these seats, then by all means, stay right here."

They all looked around at each other, before getting up, one by one. They stood by the door, waiting to hear footsteps, Spencer in the back, just in case they were coming toward the library to check in on them. Emily heard some cursing, followed by walking down the hallway, away from them. She poked her head out of the door and checked to see him walking down the hall, right on time. She held the door open and motioned for everyone to follow her.

"How do you know where Rossi is?" JJ asked, right behind her.

She smirked. "I don't."

"But didn't you just say – how do you know when he'll come back?"

"Yet again, I don't." She turned around to face her. "Being bad feels good, doesn't it?"

JJ rolled her eyes, following.

Spencer turned to Derek. "What's the point of going to Prentiss' locker?" he asked, Derek not making eye contact with him. He ran his hand along the wall, busying himself with the count of bumps and grooves, just in case he wasn't going to get an answer.

"It beats me."

"This is just, it's stupid. Why are we risking getting caught and ending up here _another_ Saturday?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"So, then, what are we doing?"

Derek kept staring forward. "If you ask me one more question and risk getting us caught, I'm beating the shit out of you, kid."

Spencer immediately shrunk back, biting his lip and looking down at his feet, mumbling a sorry. He wasn't sure what he'd done to offend him, but he wished he could take it back.

They made it to Emily's locker and she warned everyone to step back. Garcia stayed a few steps behind them, not sure if she'd been invited on this outing or not, but needing to get out of the library. Derek took notice of the permanent marker on the lockers above, warning not to open hers.

"You enjoy destroying school property, don't you?"

She eyed him, then saw where his focus was. "Oh, what a shame. However will they get Sharpie off? It's practically lead paint." She opened her locker, bending down and looking through. "I know it's in here somewhere."

JJ peeked over. "What?"

She held up a hand to silence her, before reaching in the locker above and taking out a bag, removing several bags from inside it before revealing a small baggy. "Perfect!"

Spencer sniffed before his eyes went wide. "…That's drugs."

"Come on, Emily, put it back," Derek snapped.

She stuffed it into her back pocket, ignoring them.

"Drugs. That girl has marijuana in her locker," Spencer mumbled, looking at the others in disbelief. "…That was marijuana."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Shut up, kid."

He eyed Garcia. "…Do you approve of this behavior?"

She looked at him before giving him a shrug. She made sure Spencer turned to walk away before bending down, taking the combination lock off of Emily's locker and stowing it away in her bag. Kleptomania wasn't her proudest trait, but it was something she started when she had nothing better to do, considering the lack of attention from her hippie parents.

"We're going to go through the science labs, then we'll have a quick shortcut to the library," Emily explained.

"You'd better be right," Derek warned. "If we're caught by Rossi, it's all your fault."

"What did they say?" Spencer whispered to JJ. "Where is she taking us?"

Garcia trailed behind them, careful to keep her distance.

* * *

Rounding a corner, Emily looked down and saw Rossi walking the opposite way. "Shit!" she muttered to herself, running down the hall, everyone following. Garcia saw it best to stay still, because she knew they'd be running right back. They ran down the hallways, doing their best not to get caught by Rossi. All of them skidded to a halt when they spotted him down another hallway, running in the opposite direction. None of them were sure if their running could be heard, but in that moment, they could only hope not. Another hallway led them to him getting a drink out of a water fountain, and this unknown game of cat and mouse was making all of them nervous.

"Hold up, we have to go through the cafeteria," Emily warned them, pointing in the opposite direction, knowing that they were running toward the gym and it was locked up on weekends.

Derek shook his head. "No way, we're headed to the gymnasium, it's quicker."

"You don't know what you're talking about, we need to go upstairs-"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Derek snapped.

Garcia made a squeaking noise, warning them to keep the arguing down.

"We're done listening to you," Derek continued, "we're going this way. You go where you want." Spencer was the first to follow after him, then JJ, and finally Garcia, motioning for Emily to follow.

Making it to the gym, as Emily had predicted, they noticed the hallway locked up. Emily groaned, shaking the gate. "Damnit! Great idea, moron."

"Fuck you!" Derek snapped.

"Oh, fuck you!" JJ responded. "You should've listened to Emily."

"We're dead," Spencer deduced.

Emily took a deep breath, swallowing. "No, I'm just dead."

"What do you mean?"

"Get back to the library," Emily instructed, grabbing the bag out of her pocket and stuffing it into Spencer's. Before any of them could respond, Emily took off down the hallway, making as much noise as she possibly could.

Spencer swallowed, looking around at everyone. "Did she just… save all of us?"

JJ smirked and Derek stood there silently, but nodded. "Come on, kid, let's get back to the library before Rossi busts all of us." He patted Spencer's back, a simple gesture to make up for his behavior earlier.

Derek led the way, and they all made it back to the library, sitting in their seats. Garcia looked around and the mood had definitely changed. None of them were annoyed by Emily anymore. Instead, they were happy, almost _relieved_ that they were in her company today.

* * *

Emily didn't think before she did it, she just made noise: rattling lockers and locks, ripping down posters, and singing at the top of her lungs. She had to distract Rossi and get him out of their way so they could make it back safely. She may have only known them for a few hours, but she had a heart. All of them weren't going to get busted for something that was her idea. She finally picked the lock to get into the gym, playing a round of basketball with herself, which was mainly bouncing the basketball against the walls and floor.

"Prentiss!" Rossi snapped, slamming the door against the wall. "What are you doing?"

She bounced the ball a few times, ignoring him.

"Get out, Prentiss," he warned, pointing to the door. "Out. It's over."

"Don't you at least want to know _why_ I'm here?" she asked, spinning the ball on her fingers.

"Out!"

"I'm going to try out for a scholarship," she explained, dribbling a few times.

"Give me the ball, Prentiss." He held out his hands. "Give me the ball."

She faked him out a few times before giving up, squatting down and rolling the ball to him, walking past him to collect her shoes and jacket as he kicked the ball away.

Rossi followed her to the library, pushing her every few steps. When they finally made it inside, he found everyone still seated at their tables.

"Get your stuff, you're leaving."

She stumbled when Rossi pushed her again – she was pretty sure that was assault on a minor, but she knew arguing with him would only lead to him bullying her even more. Instead she reached on her table, grabbing her bag.

"Little Ms. Wise Ass over here decided to take a trip to the gymnasium. I'm sorry to inform you she'll no longer be joining you in the library."

"Wah," she said dramatically, pouting.

"Is everything a joke to you? That fire alarm you pulled on Friday, _that_ was funny. What if it was your family or your home, or even your dope was on fire?"

_If it was my family, I wouldn't give a shit, much like they don't give a shit about me. If it was my home, well fuck those possessions, they're not even mine. _"My dope? Oh that's impossible, sir. It's in Reid's underwear."

Spencer's eyes went wide, immediately shaking his head.

Derek laughed to himself, but unfortunately, Rossi caught it.

"Do you think she's funny? Do you think that's cute?" Derek gave him a shrug and looked at the table. "Let me tell you, just look at her. She's _nothing_. You want to see something that's actually laughable? Go visit Emily Prentiss in about five years, then you'll see how funny she is."

Emily bit down on her cheek, wishing he'd just stop.

"What's the matter, Emily?" he asked, facing her eye-to-eye. "Are you going to cry at the harsh reality?" When there was no answer, she grabbed his arm. "Let's go."

"Keep your _fucking_ hands off of me," she snapped, standing up. "I expected better manners from a grown ass man." She pushed over everything in her past on her walk out, because lashing out was better than showing him any sign of weakness and crying.

Everyone turned to look at each other, because they finally realized that Emily wasn't a bad person, she was just being bullied and needed to act out for survival.

* * *

He walked to a supply closet, holding open the door. Emily groaned, walking in and sitting on one of the spare desks.

"That's the last time you make me look like a fool in front of anybody, Prentiss. Do you hear me?" he snapped, slamming the door behind him. "I make good money and I have a great home, and I'm not about to throw all of that away on a little shit like you."

Emily stayed silent, pulling her knees to her chest.

"But someday? When you're out of here, and you've forgotten this place, and everyone's forgotten about you, and you're strung out on something because your life is completely worthless? I'm going to be there. Oh yes, I'll be there, and I'll finally do what I've wanted to do since you set foot in this school two years ago, starting to make my life a living hell."

Emily turned to look at him, pure disgust and shock written on her face. "Are you _threatening _me?"

"What are you going to do? Tell your rich mommy to get you a lawyer? That is if she can stop being in a business meeting long enough to give a shit about your life. Even then, do you really think anyone is going to want to believe you? Look at your track record and look at mine. I win." He pulled off his jacket. "Why don't you show me how tough you are right now? Get on your feet and I'll give you a free swing."

She knew it was a trap. It was tempting, _oh_ was it tempting, but the second she laid a finger on Rossi, she knew that he'd report it, she'd be expelled and on her way to some form of prison or community service, if her mother cared enough to help her get it. He kept trying to egg her on, but she wasn't going to do it. She knew better.

He faked a swing at her and she flinched. "Just like I thought. You're spineless." Walking out, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Now she was _positive_ that move was illegal, and whether her mom wanted to hear it or not, she was going to.


	6. Bonding

Emily listened intently outside of the door, waiting for Rossi to walk away. She wasn't going to spend the rest of her day locked up like an animal. No, definitely not. She was going to wait for an opportunity and find her way out of there. Looking around, she didn't see many options, as the closet was off of his office and had no windows. Instead she looked up and saw a vent. Seeing it as her only option, she waited for the sign that Rossi left and stacked up a few chairs before pulling off her jacket and climbing up, careful not to make too much noise. She slid the ceiling tile back in to place, very quietly making her way through the vents. She tried to keep herself calm by whispering to herself, reassuring herself that she could do this. Suddenly, one of the tiles gave out and she fell through.

"Shit!"

Everyone in the library turned to look. JJ was sitting on the table talking with Derek, while Spencer was quietly eating his carrot sticks, and Garcia was leaning back in her seat, her feet up on the table. Emily made her way down the stairs, walking over to the table she had been sitting at. She saw all of them looking confused and shrugged. "What?" reaching down on the desk, she grabbed the pencil. "I forgot my pencil." She was about to kick Spencer out of her seat when she heard it.

"God damnit!" Rossi's voice echoed in the wall. Emily panicked, ducking under Derek and JJ's table as quickly as she could. "What the hell is going on in here?"

They all collectively shrugged, not wanting Emily to be in anymore trouble.

"What was that noise?" he asked, looking around.

"…What noise?" Derek responded.

"I was in my office and I heard a ruckus!"

Spencer cleared his throat. "Could you _describe_ said ruckus, sir?"

"Watch your tongue, young man."

Emily sat up, banging her head against the table and groaning loudly.

Derek hit his fist against the table while Garcia slammed her feet against the floor.

"What is this? What's going on?" he asked, studying everyone's faces.

Derek made a zipping noise with his mouth and they all slowly saw Rossi losing his cool.

"What the – what is going on? What is that noise?"

"What noise?" Derek repeated smugly, trying not to show it.

"Really, sir, there wasn't any noise," JJ started. She very loudly sneezed when she kicked at Emily for bothering her under the table. Everyone followed suit, fake coughing. "That noise? Was it that noise you were talking about, Principal Rossi?"

He crossed his arms. "No, that was not the noise I was talking about. I may not have caught whatever you were doing, but I swear I will."

Garcia laughed loudly, smirking.

"You can mark that in the books, missy," he told her. She smiled, proud of herself. "And you?" he continued, pointing to JJ. "I won't be made a fool of. You hear me?"

He turned around, walking away, and had a toilet seat paper attached to the back of his pants. Luckily, they all waited until he left to start laughing at it.

Derek was in a fit of uncontrollable laughter while JJ nudged Emily under the table to get out. As she climbed out, JJ hit her on the back a few times.

"It was an accident," Emily said, shrugging.

"No, you were," JJ responded.

"Why, what happened?" Spencer asked.

Emily smiled, eyeing JJ. "Yes, what happened?"

"_Nothing_."

* * *

Emily walked up to Spencer, holding out her hand. "Yo, Trojan horse, I'd like my Greeks back."

Spencer was glad when he quickly caught onto the reference, reaching into his pocket and taking out the bag, handing it to her.

"You're not going to blaze up in here, burnout," Derek warned her.

Emily ignored him, walking away. JJ turned to face her before facing forward again, contemplating. She eyed Derek, who gave her a headshake, and she thought on it a little more. She finally got up, following her to the back of the library.

Spencer cleared his throat, eyeing Derek. "I'm not going," he mouthed.

"I'm not either," he mouthed back.

Spencer sighed, thinking, before getting up and running after them.

Derek sat there, wondering what he should do. Groaning, he pushed his desk back. "Shit." He got up, picking up the sunglasses Emily had left behind, going to the back of the library.

"You ever done this before?" Emily asked, looking at Spencer.

He shook his head. "No, but," he shrugged nervously, "why not, you know?"

She held out the joint to him before pulling back. "And you promise you won't run home and tell Mommy and Daddy that you smoked your first fattie in detention?"

He scoffed. "Daddy doesn't care, and Mommy doesn't either."

Emily shrugged, lighting it and handing it to him. "Have fun, kid."

After the first inhale, Spencer sniffed and started laughing to himself, pulling on the sunglasses. He was in a fit of giggles, and he had to say, he had never felt this carefree in his life.

Emily lit JJ's next, smirking when she started coughing. JJ saw the look on her face and did her best to collect herself, giggling to herself.

Spencer was trying to catch the smoke in his mouth before turning to Emily. "Girls can't hold the smoke. That's her problem!"

Emily laughed, looking over at JJ.

"Do you even know how popular I am?" JJ asked her. "Everybody loves me _so_ much."

Spencer laughed. "You poor thing."

Garcia sat in her seat, wondering what she was supposed to do. They all seemed to be having fun up there, so she could join them, but she also didn't want to kill their fun and be a buzzkill, as she tended to be. Instead she sat back, enjoying the show.

Spencer held up his hand. "Come on, Em, give me five."

She shook her head, leaning over and hitting him square in the middle of the head, watching him fall over. "Yeah, it's _chicks_ that can't hold their smoke, kid."

* * *

Meanwhile, Derek had locked himself in the foreign languages section of the library, the room filled with smoke. He waited until his joint was almost gone before stepping out, looking down at the rest of them, lounging on the couches. They turned around to face him and he smirked, tossing it aside and unzipping his sweatshirt, cartwheeling, rolling, and presumably dancing to the music that was in his head, all while laughing his head off. He stood on a seat and ripped his thermal off, which warranted a wolf whistle from Spencer. He then proceeded to jump all of the bookshelves like hurdles, giving himself an intense workout, all while Spencer kept whistling. As Derek continued, JJ and Spencer just started laughing at him, not being able to control it. He finally made it back to the foreign languages room, closing the door and yelling so loudly the glass shattered.

Garcia, still sitting on her own, watched the scene unfold. Not only had they gotten high on school property, but Derek had also destroyed school property in the process. She knew in his right mind that wouldn't happen, and that he couldn't afford another detention. Having heard everything he had said to her on their walk down the hallway, she knew he didn't want to do this. That was the moment she decided that she was going to have Derek's back: if Rossi wanted to have his ass for anything, she'd take the credit. She could sit in detention every Saturday and it wouldn't matter to her or her parents, whereas Derek constantly had making his late father proud hanging over his shoulders.

* * *

Rossi was in the basement, looking through the personnel files on the teachers in the school. Hotch noticed, walking in and leaning against one of the cabinets.

"Oh, Mr. Thompson, a history of mental illness in the family? No wonder you're so fucked up."

"Good afternoon, Dave," Hotch said, smirking.

He closed the folder, stuffing it back into the cabinet. "Hey, Aaron, how's it going?"

Hotch chuckled. "Good."

"Good, good. What's up?"

He shrugged. "Not much. What's happening? What are you doing weeding through the basement files?"

Dave leaned against the open drawer. "Oh, nothing. You know, just doing a little homework."

"Homework, huh?" he asked, stepping closer. "The confidential files?"

"Look, Aaron. This is a very sensitive area, and let me tell you, some people would be extremely embarrassed, you know. I would really appreciate if this was something that could remain between the two of us."

Hotch patted the files. "And what are you going to do for me?"

"That depends on what you'd like."

"Do you have fifty bucks?" he asked.

"…What?"

"You make good money. A hundred bucks."

"It was just fifty."

Hotch put up his hands. "Okay, two hundred bucks."

He dug through his pocket, taking out his wallet and taking out two, hundred dollar bills. "So this?"

Hotch stuffed the money into his pocket. "It never happened."

* * *

Derek sat on one of the chairs in the back of the library while Spencer sat on the couch, his legs crossed underneath him, both laughing.

"No, man, wait… do you have a middle name?" Derek asked, leaning back.

Spencer coughed, clearing his throat.

"Your middle name is Chaucer," Garcia spoke up, "as in your mother quite obviously disliked you for some reason." They both sat up straight as she got closer. "Your birthdate is October 9th. You're 6'1", you weigh roughly 130, and your social security number? That would be 049-38-0913." She smirked, laughing to herself.

"Wow. Are you a psychic?" Derek asked.

"No."

"Then would you mind enlightening me as to why you know this much about me?"

She reached into her pocket, taking out his wallet. "I swiped this."

"Give it to me."

She held it out. "Fine, I could've just gotten it all from the school's private records anyway."

Spencer stared at her. "…I thought those were private."

"They are to the untrained eye, but someone like me? Oh, trust me, _nothing_ is private."

"So you're a thief?" he asked, looking through his wallet to be sure nothing was missing.

"Oh what's there to steal? Two bucks and an expired condom."

He blushed, stuffing the wallet into his pocket.

* * *

Emily looked through JJ's makeup, checking her reflection in the little mirrors, while she let JJ go through her stuff.

"Are these all ex-boyfriends?" JJ asked, flipping through pictures.

"Some of them are," she explained, opening some eyeshadow and looking at it curiously.

"What about the others?"

She shrugged. "Some are ex-boyfriends, while some of them are just friends that were guys."

"How'd you meet them?"

"When you're a government brat, in a sense, and your mom bounces around the globe with new jobs, you meet a lot of people." She sighed. "A lot that you'd like to forget, but couldn't if your life depended on it." She sprayed JJ's perfume, sniffing the air, pleasantly surprised.

JJ raised an eyebrow. "So… you don't like everyone in these photos?"

"No, and as you saw in my locker, I seriously lack the ability to throw anything away, that includes people. Now, why do you have so much shit? It's not necessary for a girl to need this much on a daily basis."

JJ smiled slightly. "I can't throw anything away either." She pointed to a photo. "John Cooley, he's cute."

Emily took a deep breath, holding out her hand. "I want those back."

"But-"

"_Now_."

JJ closed the photo book, handing it back to Emily. "…I take it that relationship ended badly?"

"Blondie, you couldn't even _imagine_ how badly it ended." She threw it back into her backpack, sighing.

* * *

Derek held out his wallet to Spencer. "Trade off. I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Spencer raised an eyebrow, digging through his pocket. "I'll tell you the truth, the first time I expected to hear that in high school, I didn't expect it to come from someone like Derek Morgan, and after that, I didn't expect it to be my wallet."

Derek laughed to himself, taking Spencer's and handing him his. Spencer looked through and saw some pictures of what he assumed were his mother and sisters, and a faded one of him as a baby with his father in the back. He smiled at how happy the two of them looked and was pulled out of it when Derek spoke.

"You do know this is the worst fake ID ever, right?"

Spencer chuckled. "Come on, it's not that bad."

Derek held it out. "You made yourself 68 years old."

"I know, I messed it up."

"What do you need a fake for, anyway?"

"…So I can vote. The adults aren't doing a very good job, so I might as well give it a shot."

"Do you want to see what's in my bag?" Garcia spoke up.

They both put their hands up. "No."

She gave them a look before turning her bag over, dumping out everything on the couch, despite what they had said. Inside of her bag was pretty much the picture of her life: chaos. There were markers, pens, sketchbooks, comics, hair pins, hair bows, more clip-in extensions, random maps, hair elastics, combs, tampons, assorted clothing items, pill bottles, and several things that she'd stolen, including Emily's combination lock.

"Holy shit," Derek said, looking at the pile. "What is all of that?"

"Do you always carry this much shit around?" Spencer asked.

She nodded proudly. "I always carry that much shit around. You never know when you need to take off."

"Are you going to grow up to be a shopping bag lady? Squatting in alleys, talking to the buildings and wearing men's clothing and things like that?"

"I'll do what I need to get by."

"Why do you need to do anything to get by?"

She glared. "My home life is highly unpleasant."

"So, what you're saying is you'd subject yourself to the dangers of the real world, including violence and torture and poverty, because being at home is unpleasant?" Spencer tried to reason.

She shook her head. "I don't have to live in the streets. I have options, I can do anything to get by. I can go to the country, or the ocean, or the mountains, or another country and get a fresh start."

Spencer paused before leaning over to Derek. "Do you want to add your two cents to this? Penelope over here wants to run away because home is unpleasant."

"Well, everyone's home life is unsatisfying," Derek finally said, looking over at her. "If it wasn't, people would stay at home with their parents instead of branching off on their own." It wasn't that he despised his home life. In fact, he enjoyed having his mother and his two sisters at home, but with his father not there the past seven years, it just hadn't felt right anymore.

"Yeah, I know, but her situation may go beyond what people like us consider normal unpleasant."

"Nevermind. Forget it. Everything's peachy," she said, picking up her bag and stuffing her things back inside.

"No, there's no deal, sporto. Forget it, and just leave me alone like you're all fantastic at doing."

"No, wait a minute here. You're carrying all of that around in your bag for one of two reasons. You're actually going to run, or you just want people to think you're going to run."

She stood up. "Fuck off."

As she walked away, Spencer leaned over to him. "I think she's her own entity. Be careful."

Derek tossed him his wallet before he sighed, getting back up.

* * *

Garcia leaned over a bookcase, trying to catch her breath. No, she wasn't going to let herself get upset in public. That was something that never happened, and it wasn't something that was going to start today. She crossed her arms in front of herself, leaning forward and sighing, collecting herself. She heard footsteps approaching and was surprised to find Derek standing there, leaning against the other side.

"…Hi. Do you want to talk?" he asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just please go away."

"Okay, where do you want me to go?"

"Just go away!"

They both stared at each other before Derek sighed, turning away.

"You have problems," she said to him.

"Oh, _I _have problems?"

"You've done everything everybody has ever told you to. That in and of itself is a problem."

"Okay, fine, I'll take that." He stepped forward, looking her in the eye. "But at least I didn't dump my shit out on the couch and invite everyone else into my problems." He was inches from her before he talked again. "What's wrong? What is it?" When there was silence, he sighed. "Is it bad? Real bad? Your parents?" The look in her eyes said it all and he leaned his back against the bookcase.

"Yeah," she said softly.

He nodded, pausing. "What do they do to you?"

She sighed. "…They ignore me. Everything about me."

He sighed, reaching over and rubbing her arm, trying his best to reassure her.

* * *

Rossi turned to Hotch, opening his can of beer. "What did you want to be as a kid?"

Hotch laughed to himself. "When I was a kid? I wanted to be Lennon."

"Aaron, don't be an idiot. I'm trying to make a point. I've been teaching for over 25 years, and every single year, these kids get more arrogant."

"Oh, come on, Dave, that's bullshit. The kids aren't the ones that changed. It was you."

Rossi sighed loudly.

"You took a teaching job because you thought it'd be fun and easy, summer vacations and all. Then you found out it was a lot of actual work, and it sucked."

Rossi shook his head. "These kids changed on me. They think I'm a big fucking joke now."

"Come on. If you were 16 years old, what would you think of you?"

"Do you really think I give a rat's ass what these little shits think of me?"

"Yes. You give several rat asses, in fact."

"Just think about it. When you get old, hell when I get old, these kids are going to be running the country."

Hotch laughed to himself. "Yeah."

"And that's the thought that terrifies me, waking up in the middle of the night… when I'm older? These kids are going to take care of me."

Hotch laughed. "With the way you've been treating them, especially that Prentiss kid? _Trust_ me, I wouldn't count on anything."


	7. Heart to Heart

They all decided to gather in the back of the library, sitting in a circle on the floor and just talking to each other, instead of starting arguments or snapping, like they had been all day. Garcia stayed in a corner while JJ and Emily sat across from each other, and Spencer was leaning his arm on a chair, Derek leaning against the railing.

"What would you do for a million bucks?" Emily asked.

Derek shrugged. "As little as I had to, I guess."

"That's so boring!" JJ snapped.

"What am I supposed to say?"

"The idea is to find the absolute limit of what you'd do for it. For example, would you drive to school naked?"

He chuckled. "Would I have to get out of my car?"

"…Of course."

"That depends on the season. Spring or winter?"

JJ shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Let's say spring."

"Front of the school, or the back?"

"Either."

He thought to himself before nodding. "Yeah, I would."

"I'd do it," Garcia spoke up. "I'm pretty much up for anything and I wouldn't need a million dollars to do it either."

"You're lying," JJ said, rolling her eyes.

She shook her head. "I've done plenty, except for a few illegal things. Then again, I have done illegal things as well."

"Like that thing you do with the computers?" Spencer asked.

"Oh that is _definitely_ not legal and that's why you're keeping your mouth closed."

JJ sat up straight. "What other illegal things can you do without getting caught?"

She counted them off on her fingers. "Hacking, changing computer files, shoplifting," she cleared her throat, eyeing JJ and changing the subject. "Onto you, Ms. Popularity. What have _you_ done?"

"What do you mean 'what have I done'?"

"Well Emily hinted at it earlier, but you never answered the question completely…"

JJ groaned. "Why is it anybody's business what I have or haven't done and who I have or haven't done it with?"

"We're curious. We're all opening up here," Emily started.

"I'm not discussing my private life with strangers."

"I'd like to think after the day we've had, we're more than strangers," Spencer spoke up.

Garcia shrugged. "You're scared because it's a double edged sword."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, if you've done it, you're a slut, but if you haven't, you're a prude. It's a lose-lose situation if you're a girl," Emily told her.

"You want to and you can't, but when you do, you wish you hadn't," Garcia added.

"Or she's a tease," Emily said.

Derek looked up. "She's definitely a tease." He saw JJ looking defensive. "Oh, you're a tease and you know it, Jayje. All girls are teases."

"She's only a tease if what she does bothers someone," Emily said, shrugging.

"I don't do anything!"

Garcia pointed a finger at her. "That's what makes you a tease. That's the difference between us. I don't tease."

She scoffed. "I pray that's not the _only_ difference."

"Face it," Emily said, shifting slightly, "you're a tease."

"Stop saying I'm a tease."

Emily shrugged. "Then answer the question."

"Be honest."

"It's no big deal."

"Just answer it."

She groaned, hitting her hands on the ground. "No, I've never done it. Satisfied?"

Emily clapped her hands together. "Definitely something to be proud of in this day and age."

"You're so weird," JJ mumbled.

Derek looked around. "Isn't everyone? Other people are just better at hiding their weirdness, or in some cases," he motioned toward Garcia, "embracing it." Garcia smiled slightly, enjoying one of the first compliments she'd ever received.

JJ glanced at him. "And what makes you weird, huh?"

He clicked his tongue, sighing. "You guys know what I did to get in here, don't you?" looking at them, he saw all of them shaking their heads and took a deep breath, bracing himself for it.

"All of my buddies on the wrestling team, over the years, they've all done some pretty stupid shit. I'm the captain and never did anything dumb for attention or because I was a jock and I could, and I was starting to lose their respect. If I lose the respect of my team? I lose them, and they turn their backs on me. Yeah, wrestling's an individual sport, but you know, it'll only get you so far if all of the people you're there with turn a blind eye when you're competing, so in my head I thought that I had to do something to earn their respect back. It was really stupid and looking back, I know it shouldn't have happened." He kept his gaze straight ahead of him, not wanting to look anyone in the eye. He didn't have it in him to face anyone and tell them directly what he'd done.

"So what happened?" JJ said softly.

He cleared his throat. "I… there's this kid in my gym class, Ethan something. There was some talk going around about him at school about you know, his 'interests', and the team all knew about it. They were all contemplating confronting him on it, but I beat them all to the punch." He screwed his eyes shut, sighing. "I beat the living snot out of that kid, jumped him from behind too, and didn't stop until my buddies got bored. They all just stood there and laughed and cheered me on, and I just, I really don't know why. That's nothing to be proud of or to want to congratulate. I took that kid's biggest weakness, his biggest insecurity, and hurt him because of it." He exhaled, leaning his head back. "Rossi said that if I weren't who I was at this school, I'd have been expelled and probably arrested. I did all of that and risked this much for a stupid sport. My mom, she's been both parents for me for over seven years, and she's the sweetest woman on the planet. Having to look her in the eye and tell her what I did… that was the first time in my life I really hated myself. I've done stupid shit. I've drank, I've partied, I've fought before but that… that was my all time low. The look on her face almost said 'you're not my son'." He bit down on his lip, trying to fight back his emotions. "I thought of him having to go home to his dad and tell him what happened, and I felt his humiliation and his pain, and it stung worse than anything. How the hell does someone apologize for doing that, for hurting someone because of who they may or may not be, when in reality, you don't even know what _you_ are?"

Daring to look up, he saw the looks on everyone's faces, and he knew he said more than he'd wanted to. Most of them were on the brink of tears, but he wasn't sure if it was because they felt sorry for him, or they were disgusted. He took a deep breath, sighing. "Sometimes, I wish my knee would give out and I wouldn't have to worry about scholarships anymore, just so I don't have to be this image of Derek Morgan, all-star athlete. I'm more than a letterman jacket, and nobody seems to realize that. A while back I blew out my right knee in a match and I was sidelined for a few months, and it was the happiest I'd been in a while. I thought getting back in the game would make it better, but it's only made this feeling worse."

Garcia reached over silently, squeezing his shoulder, then reaching down and rubbing his back. He patted her arm as a thank you and gave a weak smile, looking back at his lap.

* * *

Spencer stayed silent for a minute, considering what he was going to say. It seemed every time he'd spoken up today, he was interrupted or a joke was made at his expense, and he didn't want that to happen. With everything Derek had just put out in the open, he wasn't going to let him be the only one to speak the truth today. He was finally around four people he was comfortable with, and he knew if he didn't talk now, he never would.

"That whole situation, it's like me with my grades," he spoke softly, starting to talk with his hands, "I step outside of myself and get a good look at myself, and I see this. I don't like what I see, and in turn, what everyone else sees. I just, I really don't."

JJ leaned toward him. "But what's wrong? Why don't you like yourself?"

He stared at the carpet. "It sounds stupid, but because I've started failing." He screwed his eyes shut, biting his cheek. "I hoped that achieving so much and getting in newspapers would be enough to get my dad's attention and maybe want him to come back home after seven years, but nothing. I've even contacted the paper I know he reads, so I know he sees me. I haven't even gotten a phone call or a letter. I bumped into him once at the grocery store, and he just saw right through me. Part of me wanted to just wrap my arms around him and hug him and tell him I missed him, but I knew it was pointless and I'd just get hurt all over again."

Emily looked over at him. "Between your deadbeat dad and my piece of shit dad, they should start an asshole bowling league."

Spencer smiled slightly, appreciating the joke, but needing to continue the story. "I'm sorry, I diverted from the point. I just, as I said, I've started failing and that's… that isn't me. We had an assignment in shop to make a lamp, and I'd read electrical and engineering books for years, it's all committed to memory. We had eight weeks to do it and I worked really hard on it, and I was proud of myself for doing something that was non-academic. The light was supposed to go on and mine just never did, and I couldn't figure out why. I thought I was making the right move, taking shop, considering how much I've read up on so many things, I figured I could handle it and maintain my GPA."

"Why did you think it would be so easy?" Emily asked, not looking at him.

"Because some of the people that take shop-"

"_I_ take shop. Does it look like I'm going to step into a fucking home-ec class?"

JJ put up her hands. "Neither of you is superior to the other. You're both good in your own ways."

* * *

Garcia could sense the tension in the room and had to say something to divert the subject before an argument broke out. She'd heard enough of it today and she wasn't going to deal with it again.

"…I can draw with my toes, and write, and play the piano."

"All with your _feet_?" JJ asked.

She nodded, smiling slightly.

Spencer leaned back on his elbows. "…I can make spaghetti."

JJ motioned toward Derek. "What about you?"

"…I can be a giant asshole for attention."

Emily glanced at JJ. "What about JJ?"

"I can't do anything special."

"_Everyone_ can do something special, Ms. Soccer Queen."

She sighed, thinking to herself. "I can do something, but it's just really weird."

"I think we've established we're all weird here today," Derek said, straightening up.

JJ shook her head. "So long as you all swear not to laugh." She stuck her lipstick in her shirt and bent her head down, applying it, resurfacing a minute later.

"Where'd you learn that skill?" Derek asked, clapping.

"Seventh grade soccer camp."

Emily slow clapped and Garcia glared at her. "You're being a bitch, don't do that to her. You swore that you wouldn't laugh at her."

"I'm not laughing."

"You bitch," Derek snapped.

Emily shrugged. "What do you care what I think anyway? As you said, I might as well not even exist and nobody would give a shit." She then eyed JJ. "And you don't even like me anyway."

"You know, I have feelings just like you do, and it hurts when someone stomps all over them."

"Don't you _dare_ compare our lives. You've got everything you could want and I have nothing."

"Coming from the girl with a rich mom," Derek muttered.

She glared at him before focusing back on JJ. "If you didn't show up, the school wouldn't know how to function, because you're their queen. Oh, and are those diamond earrings you're wearing?"

"Shut up," JJ snapped, wiping her eyes.

"Oh, I bet those are. Did you work for the money for those? Or did Daddy buy them for you?"

She reached up, touching the earrings. No, they weren't a present for her. They'd belonged to her sister, and she'd gotten them along with a necklace when she'd committed suicide a few years back.

"Those were a Christmas gift, weren't they? Know what I got last Christmas? My drunk stepfather throwing insults at me while my mother was 2,000 miles away. Merry fucking Christmas, right?" She saw JJ on the brink of tears. "No, you're not going to cry here. Cry to your Daddy."

She sniffed, wiping her eyes and sighing.

"Are you guys going to become your parents?" Derek asked.

JJ shook her head. "Not me, ever."

"I don't think we can stop it," Garcia spoke up, "it just happens one day. We say we're going to be better. We say we're going to do everything they didn't. Then you turn around and you're them. It just happens."

JJ wiped her eyes. "What happens."

"You grow up and your heart just dies."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Who cares?"

"I care. I'm not going to be them. I can't let that happen."

* * *

Spencer sighed, clearing his throat. "I was just thinking, and I know it's poor timing considering everything that we're discussing right now, but I was wondering what's going to happen to us on Monday when we're all together again in the hallways?" He looked around at them and saw them mulling it over. "I mean, after today, I consider you guys friends, with everything we know about each other now. I'm not wrong in thinking that, am I?"

Derek shook his head. "You're not wrong, kid."

"So on Monday, what happens?"

"Do you mean are we still friends?" JJ said, practically a whisper. "That is, if we're friends now." He nodded and she sighed. "Do you want the truth?"

He nodded. "I want the truth."

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

Garcia saw the defeated look on Spencer's face. "So, is that with all of us, or just you and Emily?"

She stared at the floor. "All of you."

"Great attitude to have, Jayje," Derek spat out.

"Be honest here, Derek. If Spencer were to walk up to you in the hallway on Monday to start up a conversation, what would you do to him?" He looked over at Spencer before staring straight ahead of him. "I mean, picture it. You're standing there with all your buddies from different sports teams and all of a sudden, he walks up. You know exactly what would happen. You'd wave and say hi, brushing him off, and the second he's out of earshot, you'd tear him to pieces so your friends wouldn't think that you really gave a shit about him."

He looked at Spencer again before shaking his head. "No way." He reached over, patting Spencer's leg. JJ could think that way all she wanted, but Monday was going to be a new day for him. He was done being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole. That was not the son that his mother raised, and he was going to start being something that she'd be proud of.

"Okay," Garcia started, looking at JJ, "but what if I came up to you?"

She licked her lips. "The same thing."

"You're a _bitch_!" Emily snapped.

"Why, because I'm telling him the truth of what's actually going to happen, _that_ makes me a bitch?"

"No, because you know how shitty that is to do to someone." She pointed to Spencer. "There was a time when you were that kid. You were smart and in the shadows of everybody else before you realized your potential in soccer and grew into your looks. You were that kid and you tried talking to the popular kids and you got the freeze out. You shouldn't do that to someone because that's what happened to you. You need to stop giving a shit what everyone else thinks and do what you actually want to do for a fucking change in your life."

"Okay, what about you?" she yelled back. "Why don't you take Garcia out to a party sometime," Garcia let out a small laugh, "or take Spencer to the parking lot to get high with you?" Out of the corner of her eye, she finally saw Spencer break down, his wall shattered and tears pouring down his face. "What about Derek, for that matter, and me? What would your friends say if we walked down the hall together? They'd laugh, and you'd tell them you had something on me so they'd forgive you."

Emily pointed a finger at her. "Don't you dare talk about my friends. You may see them as burnouts and stoners and low-lifes, but you know what? They would never pull that bullshit on anybody. You don't know them, you don't look at them, and you sure as hell, and you wouldn't sink as low on your social ladder to speak to any of my friends, so stick to the shit you know in life: soccer, shopping, lip gloss, your dad's brand new car, and your drunk of a mother."

JJ kicked at her. "Shut up!"

"And as far as us being seen in the hallways together? You can guarantee that it's never going to happen. Just keep your head in the sand until fucking prom and do the world a favor."

"I hate you!" JJ snapped.

"Oh? Good. It's about time someone fed you a heavy dose of reality."

* * *

They stayed silent for a minute before Spencer said something. "So I assume that Garcia and I are better people than you?" he asked, motioning toward JJ. "I tried tutoring you and you had one of your buddies strip me naked and tie me to a pole, so obviously I shouldn't have expected anything."

JJ's breath hitched in her throat – she never found out what had happened, and she'd just wanted him to talk to Spencer.

"Us weirdos can look out for each other, right?" He turned to Garcia. "Would you do that to me?"

She shrugged. "I don't have any friends."

"Yeah, but if you _did_?"

"No. The kind of friends I would have wouldn't mind who I talked to in the hallways."

"I just want every single one of you to know that I wouldn't do that." He was sure to look each of them in the eye. "I wouldn't do it, and I won't do it, because it's a shitty thing to do to someone."

"Your friends wouldn't mind it because they look up to us," JJ spoke up, wiping her eyes. "And as for what happened to you, I didn't – I just-"

Spencer put up his hand, shaking his head. "Don't. It was bad enough walking home naked at 10:00 at night when they finally stopped laughing at me."

She bit down on her cheek.

"You're so conceited, JJ," he said softly, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. "It didn't matter what was done to me, because it had nothing to do with you."

"I'm not saying it because I'm conceited! I hate having to go along with what other people want me to do or say."

"Then why do you do it?"

She swallowed. "You don't understand. My sister was extremely popular and likeable and she still did it." She blinked, wiping away the stray tears. "She was happy and nothing was wrong and she still killed herself when I was in the next room. I didn't want that to happen to me, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I wanted to do it right and still try to be happy and be the daughter they could be proud of just like she was. You don't know what the pressure is to be popular and maintain that-"

"I don't understand _what_? You think I can't fathom what pressure is? Fuck you!" He wiped his eyes on his sweater, sighing. He finally crumbled, burying his head in his sleeve. "Do you know why I'm here today?" he snapped. "Do you?" He sniffed, wiping his eyes. "I'm here because Mr. Ryan found a bottle of pills in my locker."

JJ's eyes widened while Derek leaned in, hoping he could get through to him and calm him down. "Why did you have pills in your locker?"

He blinked, tears falling. "I tried so hard, and it wasn't enough. I was supposed to pull the cord and the fucking thing was supposed to work, and it didn't."

"What were the pills for, Spencer?"

He shook his head, sitting up. "Just forget it."

"You brought it up," he pointed out.

He rested his elbows on his knees, pressing his forehead against his hands and sighing. "I can't have an F. I can't have it, and I can't have him know I have it."

Emily looked at Spencer, seeing him vulnerable, and was speechless. She didn't even know that people like him knew the definition of pressure and just assumed success came easily to them.

"Even if I get A's the rest of the semester, which is highly unlikely, I'm still only at a B. Everything's ruined. If I just took the pills and swallowed them and dealt with the pain for a while, all of this would've gone away."

"Spencer," JJ said softly.

"What?" he snapped, hitting the chair away from him. "I considered the options."

"Killing yourself wasn't an option," she tried to reason.

"Well it didn't happen, did it? No. But let's be honest, would any of you have noticed if I wasn't at school on Monday? Would anyone really have cared that I decided to overdose? There'd be the people that pretended to care for the attention and the spectacle, and that's it. _None_ of you would've cared."

"We care now," Derek tried to reason. Spencer gave him a slight smile, wiping his eyes and hoping to calm himself down.

"…Do you know what I did to get in here today?" Garcia spoke up, looking around at them. When nobody reacted, she laughed to herself. "Nothing, I didn't have anything better to do with my Saturday?"

They all laughed, something that was much needed after the tension of the last few conversations they shared.

"You're all laughing at me," she said, joining them.

Derek shook his head. "No, Baby Girl, not laughing at you."

She giggled. "_Baby Girl_?"

He shrugged. "I was between that and blondie, and Emily's already given JJ that one."

She smirked, walking over and sitting beside Spencer, nudging his arm. "Come on. You, me, computer. We're giving you a bit of an academic boost."

His eyes widened. "… Won't I get in trouble?"

"No, because we're doing it as Mr. Ryan." She gave him a wink, grabbing him under the arm and pulling him up with her. This was definitely something he needed as an ego boost, and she had no problem using her skills to do it.


	8. Goodbyes

"What are you doing?" Spencer asked, leaning over Garcia.

She put up a finger to silence him. "Watch and you'll see. I am logging into the system as Mr. Ryan, I am changing your grade, and you are getting back on the honor roll."

"…But my lamp is still on his desk. He's going to remember giving me an F, check the lamp to be sure of it, and I'm going to be screwed."

"Au contraire, no you're not."

He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Au contraire, it's French for 'on the contrary'."

He shook his head. "No, I um, I already knew that. I'm just curious as to how this is going to work."

She pointed up to the ceiling tile Emily had fallen through earlier, and is if they'd rehearsed it, she jumped down, walking down the stairs and sitting beside her.

"All set?"

She nodded. "He'll pull that thing and it'll shine brighter than the rest of them."

"Perfect," she said, changing the grade. "He'll realize he made a mistake and know that it should be an A. Then when he sees it as an A in the system, he'll blame it on being overworked and go home, probably have a drink or two to unwind." She held up her hand, and Emily gave her a high five.

"We may just be a power team. It's about time I used my powers for good."

Spencer smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, really. Both of you. I appreciate the help."

Garcia reached up, patting his cheek. "Anytime you need my help, you know where I'll be."

He thought to himself before it occurred to him. "Not only here, you're in my English class."

"And Bingo was his name-o," she sing-songed, logging out of the computer and clearing her history. "A little bit of cleanup," she mumbled, pressing a few buttons, "and I was never here."

"Do you maybe want to have lunch on Monday?" he asked. "I mean, I owe you for doing me this huge favor and saving my GPA."

She smirked. "That sounds great, thank you."

Emily scoffed. "Are we having a Full House moment here?"

Garcia gave her a smile. "I'm afraid so, and you've helped."

She rolled her eyes slightly, but gave her a smile back. "Don't tell anyone."

"Your secret's safe with me." She eyed JJ, who gave her a thumbs up. "Now, you're about to have your own Full House moment."

"…Excuse me?"

"How long before you have to report back to your closet?" JJ asked, opening up her purse.

Emily looked up at the clock. "Captain Slave Driver should be checking on me in about forty-five minutes, why?"

"Sit," she said, kicking out her chair. "I'll be right back."

She gave Garcia a look, but something in her told her to comply. JJ walked over to the table where Spencer was sitting, rubbing his back. "Listen, Spencer, I just really want to apologize." She squeezed his shoulder, sighing. "When I needed a tutor was around the anniversary of when I lost my sister, and that usually puts me in a really shitty mood. That's no excuse for what I did though, and I'm really sorry for what happened to you."

He gave her a slight smile, still looking down at the desk and fidgeting with his fingers. "I'm sorry about your sister."

"Me too. If there's anything I can do for you, just tell me, okay? I'd like to think after today, I gained an annoying little brother."

He smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Can I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"Are you going to write the essay that Rossi assigned?"

"Well, it's an assignment, and I'm pretty much a nerd, so that would be a yes."

She laughed to herself. "That's true. I was just thinking that all of us writing this thing would be ridiculous, because he's not really going to read them."

"But that's what Rossi wanted us to do today?"

She shrugged. "That's true, but after everything we've experienced, I think we'd all sort of say the same thing in our papers. Today was about self discovery and all."

He smiled. "You just don't want to write the paper."

"True, but you are the smartest of us, and could put together the best essay of all of us. We all trust you."

He looked around the room and everyone nodded at him.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Great!" She gave him a quick hug, patting his back. "Thank you."

* * *

"Am I free to go back to my cell?" Emily asked.

JJ shook her head. "Not by a long shot. Garcia, supplies?"

She dug through her bag, taking out her makeup bag.

Emily's eyes widened. "You're going to girl me up? No, absolutely not, _no_."

JJ took out her eyeliner, sharpening it. "You agreed that you don't exist at this school. We're going to show you how to stand out in a good way that's even going to make Rossi reconsider being a jackass."

She looked at all of the stuff set out on the table and sighed. "Do your worst."

JJ held out her hand to Garcia. "Makeup remover."

Garcia handed her a wipe and she cleaned the black eyeliner from Emily's eyes. "God, you look so much better without all of that black gunk."

"I like that black gunk," Emily argued.

"Well, your days of being one with the raccoons are over."

* * *

Spencer clicked his pen a few times, looking over at Derek. "What are they doing back there anyway?"

Derek toyed with his chain necklace, shrugging. "Kid, when it comes to girls, there are a lot of things you just don't want to know."

"Why won't you make eye contact with me?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Hm?"

"Ever since we had that therapy session upstairs, you've barely looked at me. Did I do something to offend you? Did I say something wrong? If I did, I'm sorry-"

Derek held up his hand, shaking his head and sighing. "It's my fault, kid. I'm the one that gave Tommy the idea to tie you to the goalpost." He exhaled. "I thought he was kidding around when he said he needed a new prank, so I came up with something completely ridiculous. I never thought he'd actually do it." He dared to look up at Spencer again. "I'm _really_ sorry."

Spencer blinked a few times before swallowing and giving him a shrug. "It's in the past, and we can't change it now."

"Can you forgive me?"

He nodded slightly, giving him a smile. "If you can promise me what you said up there is true, then yes."

Derek thought of what he was referring to, but then he remembered. "We'll see when Monday comes around, won't we?"

* * *

JJ collected her things off the table, stuffing them back into her makeup bag as Garcia did the same.

"Can I look at what you two have done to me yet?" Emily asked, eyes still closed.

JJ opened her mouth to say yes, but Garcia squeaked. "No, definitely not, but almost done!"

"I liked you better when you didn't talk," Emily mumbled, following it with a laugh.

Garcia dug through her bag, taking out a red hair extension, clipping it into Emily's hair.

"Fucking ow, what did I ever do to you?!" she snapped, putting a hand to the side of her head.

"Nothing, you drama queen, I'm just giving you a hint of your badassery back." She fixed the hair around it, humming to herself.

"Why are you two being so nice to me?"

JJ smirked. "Because you're letting us."

Garcia took a mirror out of her bag, holding it up. "And now you can look."

Emily took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever she was going to see in her reflection. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that someone who actually looked feminine was staring back at her. They hadn't gone too intense on the makeup, which she definitely appreciated, and it seemed easy enough to duplicate if given the opportunity.

"You're expecting to see me like this on Monday morning, aren't you?"

JJ nodded. "Afraid so. We're almost positive everyone's going to be asking about the new girl at school, in reference to your new look. I'm sure you'll have no problem swiping your mom's credit card and getting some clothes that are more fitting for this?"

"Definitely not. Her and dearest stepdaddy are on a weekend trip to get away from all of the stress I supposedly cause them." She rolled her eyes. "I'll show up like this, but one comment insulting me, and I mean _one_, I swear to whatever bearded heavenly entities there may be that I _will_ earn another Saturday in here."

"I don't doubt it for a second," Garcia told her, stuffing the mirror back into her bag.

JJ zipped up her bag, holding it out to Emily. "It's all doubles anyway, and most of it's new: use it up, know what you like, and know what you need to buy on your next trip to the mall, because there _will_ be a next trip."

Emily took the bag, sighing, stuffing it into her pocket. "If you insist." She reached up, seeing what Garcia had done to her head. "…Red?"

"It seems like it fits you," she explained.

* * *

Derek eyed the clock. "Hey, Princess Prentiss, time for you to un-break out of prison."

She looked at the clock and groaned. "Fantastic." She walked over, punching him in the arm. "_That_ is for calling me Princess, sporto."

He rubbed his arm. "Rich girl can throw a punch."

She mock laughed, turning to Spencer. He set his pen down, somewhat speechless at her new appearance. Sure, she'd been pretty before, but they'd brought it out in her, and she looked amazing. He tried to form words, but none were coming out. She smiled appreciatively. "Thank you." He nodded and she walked up the stairs and climbed on a chair. She saluted to the crowd in the library before climbing up into the ducts to go back to the supply closet.

"There is a whole other side to that girl," Derek mumbled, shaking his head.

* * *

Spencer set down his pen, reading over what he'd written and being extremely satisfied with his work. Derek leaned over him, scanning it and raising his eyebrows, impressed.

"What, didn't think a genius like me could pull it off?"

Derek nudged his arm, smirking. "Knew you had it in you, kid."

JJ walked over, looking it over herself. "Wow."

He looked around at all of them. "You guys _owe_ me."

"Gladly."

He set the paper down on the desk, turning it around so when Rossi walked in, it was the first thing he saw.

* * *

When the clock struck 4:00, they were all allowed to leave. Gathering their things, they pulled on their jackets and backpacks. They all took one final look around at the library: the place that had changed their lives in just nine short hours. Then they all looked at one another. It didn't feel appropriate to say goodbye, since they'd all be seeing each other in a couple of days in the hallways and such. However, Derek did walk over to Spencer, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, kid?"

Spencer looked up at him, fidgeting with the straps on his backpack.

"Chin up. I'll see you at school on Monday."

He smiled gratefully, nodding. "See you on Monday."

JJ followed suit, stepping in front of him, before pulling him into a hug, rubbing his back. "Promise me you won't do it. I need you here," she mumbled against his chest.

He paused. If someone had told him that Jennifer Jareau would be hugging him in Saturday detention, making him promise not to commit suicide because she cared about him, he'd have told them they were crazy. He reached a hand behind her, patting her back. "I promise."

She pulled back, patting his cheek.

Garcia turned to him. "Are we still on for lunch Monday?"

"Count on it… and I may be getting a new seat in English class."

She grinned. "Can't wait."

They did a quick cell phone exchange, putting their numbers into each other's phones, before pocketing their own.

* * *

Walking out of school together, they all bumped into Hotch.

Spencer nodded at him. "Bye, Hotch."

"See you soon, Spencer," he said, leaning against his broom. He then eyed Emily.

"See you next Saturday!"

He laughed to himself. "With this new look? I'll be entertained." He watched as they all left, and knew that something was different about them. They went into that day as strangers, but something told him they weren't anymore.

Derek's mother was waiting in front of the school, leaning against her car. Derek held up a hand to everyone, walking up and giving her a hug, not wanting to let go.

"…I take it you learned something today?" she asked, patting his back.

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "I did. Thank you, Momma."

She smiled. "I think I like this new change in attitude. Come on, dinner's cooking."

He got into the car, buckling himself in and throwing his backpack down on the floor.

Spencer opted to walk home, considering he didn't want to bother his mother to get up and give him a ride. He quickly waved to everyone, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Meanwhile, Garcia got into her mom's car, and though it seemed nothing changed, she had, and that's all that mattered.

JJ had her father drive up beside Spencer and leaned over, honking the horn.

He jumped slightly before turning to face her.

"Hey, Spence, do you need a ride?" she asked.

He smiled. "_Spence_?"

"It's something I'm trying out," she said with a shrug. "Come on."

He wanted to argue, but he knew she'd just keep arguing with him until she got her way. He nodded, getting into the backseat and giving her his address.

She pointed to the backseat. "Dad, this is my friend Spencer."

Spencer smiled slightly, holding up his hand and waving. "Hello, sir."

Emily had driven herself to detention in her mother's car, considering she hadn't been home to use it. She was glad to see a change in JJ, no matter how subtle, and surprisingly, she was glad to see a change in herself. She wasn't the person she had been at 7:00 that morning, and to tell the truth, she was glad about it.


	9. Monday

Spencer decided to get to school early on Monday, hoping to avoid any awkward run-ins. Sure, Saturday had been a learning experience, but he wasn't sure that everyone would stay true to their word. JJ had her father drive him home on Saturday, and she even walked him to the door, giving him another hug and making him swear, once again, that he wouldn't kill himself. He had to swear that he wouldn't before she went back to the car. He opened up his locker, going through his bag and taking out a few books before looking inside. He raised an eyebrow, stepping back, confirming that this was, in fact, his locker. His books and other things were still there, but the inside was decorated. Before, all he'd had inside his locker was his books and notebooks, but now, there were several comic strips and drawings all around it.

"Do you like it?"

Jumping slightly, he turned to face Garcia. "Is this your doing?"

She leaned against the locker beside his. "Guilty."

"How did you-" he paused, "records?"

"You bet. I figured after everything on Saturday, you needed a little bit of a pick-me-up." She chewed her cheek. "I don't know if the others are going to be honest, but I am, and I think both of us could use a friend right now."

After putting his books into his bag, he smiled, reaching over and pulling her into a hug. It wasn't a gesture he did often, so for it to be done to anyone was a big deal. She laughed to herself, patting his back.

"I'm glad you like it, Boy Wonder."

He smirked, pulling back and adjusting the strap on his bag. "Do you think it'll happen?"

"What? Them actually seeing us today instead of walking through us in the hallways?" He nodded and she sighed. "There's only one way for us to find out, right?"

* * *

JJ ducked into a bathroom, fixing her hair and smoothing a hand over her skirt, checking her reflection. After reapplying her lip gloss, she took a deep breath. Today was going to be a new day: it had to be. She wasn't going to be just the captain of the soccer team or just miss popular anymore. Everything Emily had said about her was right, and she wanted to be a genuinely good person.

"Hey, Jayje. Didn't see you at Anderson's party on Saturday."

She turned around and was face to face with Ashley. Clearing her throat, she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I just wasn't in the mood for it. I had my entire Saturday here after getting busted going shopping last week, and I just wanted to relax at home for a weekend."

"Derek didn't show up either. I guess that detention really did you two in."

She raised her eyebrows. "You have _no_ idea."

"Being trapped in this school with that Prentiss delinquent and two freaks? I'd be exhausted too."

She rolled her eyes, picking her books up off of the counter. "How did you know about that?"

"Your text." She held up her phone. "Saturday morning it woke me up. '_S.O.S. Derek, the delinquent, Thing 1 and Thing 2'._ You poor thing."

She swallowed. "It's not like that. It wasn't _that_ bad. It was actually," she shrugged, "interesting."

"Yeah, I'll bet. Are you in for skipping Physics today? Some of us are going to-"

She held up her hand, shaking her head. "No thanks. My days of skipping are over. I need to start focusing on academics and get a scholarship. It's the only way I'm getting into college."

"…One weekend in detention and all of a sudden you care about school?"

She rolled her eyes – she wasn't going to have this argument, it wasn't worth it. If one of her friends couldn't see what mattered to her, she wasn't going to bother. Toying with her necklace, she walked past her and walked out, making her way to class. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her.

* * *

Emily couldn't believe she was doing this. She'd let JJ and Garcia have their fun with her on Saturday, but she never expected to actually follow up on it. Her mother had even noticed her before she left the house that morning, which never happened. She complimented her, called her beautiful, and told her to have a nice day at school. Though she wouldn't admit it, her mom noticing her instead of talking down to her felt nice. The fact that she was now walking into school with this new look was definitely nerve-wracking. Of all things, she was currently wearing a dress, a _dress_. Her hair was actually done and she'd put in the red clip-in from Garcia, just for a little something extra. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her locker, noticing that her lock was missing. Rolling her eyes, she reached down, taking out her books for first and second period. She heard the hallway quiet down and knew it was because of her. She stood up, putting her books into her bag, before preparing herself to face the crowd. The first face she saw was JJ's, and JJ quickly gave her a nod of approval. She smiled slightly, leaning against the lockers and suddenly feeling self conscious.

One of the guys in her Math class leaned beside her, smirking. "You must be new." He held out his hand. "I'd _love_ to show you around."

She shook her head, smacking his hand away. "Even think of touching me with that hand, Jones, and you're going to lack necessary equipment for what you want to, but never will do with me."

He blinked a few times, confused, before looking at her again. "_Prentiss_?"

"And who says you're not a bright one?" she clicked her tongue, patting his cheek a few times, before walking to class.

She spotted Spencer and Garcia by what she assumed was one of their lockers and nodded her head at them, acknowledging that she'd seen them. She may not be buddy-buddy with them, but she didn't have it in her to be an asshole to them either.

Spencer glanced down the hall at Emily, impressed, before looking the other way.

"JJ's coming," he mumbled under his breath.

"Oh, this is going to be awkward," Garcia whispered, attempting to bury her head in Spencer's shoulder.

JJ stopped in front of them, smiling. "So, Pen, it looks like our evil plan worked."

Garcia paused for a second before looking at her, pointing to herself. "Did you just-"

"Oh, shoot, do you prefer Garcia, or something else?"

She gaped at her for a minute before realizing that she was being sincere. She gave her a smile, relieved. "That it did, and Pen works just fine, thanks. It's going to sound weird, but nobody's ever given me a nickname before."

She shrugged. "It's a good time to start." She tapped her textbook a few times before looking at Spencer. "What about you, Spence? Doing okay?"

He nodded nervously, looking up and down the hallway. "Aren't you worried?" he asked, lowering his voice. "You know, other people are going to see you talking to me. I don't want to hurt your social standings."

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for what I said. I thought about it and I realized that what other people think doesn't matter, because there's a good chance I'm not going to see any of these people after high school anyway. I'd rather be remembered for being nice to everyone than for anyone to think of me as some super popular mega bitch."

He smiled slightly. "Well, I appreciate it."

She patted his back. "Come on, I'll walk you to class."

"…In front of everybody?"

"No, we're going to dig a secret tunnel," she said sarcastically. When he didn't catch on, she shook her head. "Yes, in front of everybody."

He raised his eyebrows, impressed, and after telling her where his class was, she linked arms with him, walking him there and kissing his cheek before leaving. She figured that he could do with the bit of an ego boost, and he didn't mind it one bit. If this was what having someone as a protective older sister was like, he could get used to it, not to mention that he now had Garcia looking out for him, who could hack into somebody's records just for looking at him the wrong way, and he was sure that Emily wouldn't let too much harm come to him. The only question was, would Derek stay true to his word?

* * *

Spencer was having a good day, the best school day he'd had in a while. Mr. Ryan had come up to him in shop and apologized for his grade, because he'd retested his lamp and saw that it was actually functioning properly. He met up with Garcia shortly before lunch and walked to the cafeteria with her. They picked up their lunches together and sat down at a table, setting their bags down.

"How was the first half of your Monday?" she asked, peeling her orange.

He opened up his chocolate milk. "Not too terrible. What about you?"

She shrugged. "People still don't understand me, but I think to do that, they'll need some form of psychology degree. The highlight of my day, aside from being acknowledged by Jennifer Jareau despite what she said, may just be having someone in English class to goof on people with."

He raised an eyebrow. "Goof on?"

"Poke fun at. Just little jokes here and there, you know, having a bit of fun with the monotony."

He raised an eyebrow. "I think I can do that."

"I thought so."

Emily sat down at the opposite end of their table, giving both of them a small smile. Spencer eyed Garcia before moving a little closer, still leaving her some personal space. She looked up at him appreciatively before focusing on her lunch.

"Hey, Reid."

Spencer set his jaw, eyeing Garcia. He knew what was going to happen. Every single day at lunch, never fail, one of the jocks found a reason to have a problem with him, and it usually resulted in him getting beaten up behind the bleachers. He took a deep breath, setting his food down and turning around in his seat. Before he knew what was happening, he was yanked up from his seat by his shirt.

"What were you doing with JJ earlier, man? What do you have on her?"

He stayed silent and screwed his eyes shut, bracing himself for a punch, but it never came. He was dropped down to the ground and when he dared to look, he saw Derek holding the guy in a headlock. Speechless, he scrambled into his seat.

"What the hell, man?!" he snapped.

"Leave him alone, or you have me to deal with." He tightened his grip, looking down at him. "Got it?" He nodded and Derek released him, glaring. Once he walked away, he turned his attention back to Spencer. "Are you okay, kid?"

He nodded slightly, swallowing and looking up at him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emily get up from her seat and walk up to him. She shoved his back. "Hey!"

He turned around to face her. "What?"

"Next time? Pick on somebody your own size."

"What, Prentiss, you expect me to pick on you?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't, because you _really_ shouldn't pick a losing battle."

"Excuse me?"

She kneed him before smirking to herself, walking back and taking her seat. She looked at Garcia, pointing over to him. "If Rossi asks, he provoked me."

Garcia gave her a thumbs up." You bet."

* * *

Derek sat down beside Spencer, resting his elbows on the table. "Kid, can I ask you a favor?"

Spencer shrugged. "…Sure."

"…I could really use some help in Trig, and I was thinking maybe you could help, possibly tomorrow after school?"

Spencer looked around the crowded cafeteria before turning to him, giving him a smile. "No problem. How about your place?"

"Sounds great." He reached over on Garcia's plate, picking up a few chips. When she gave him a look, he shrugged. "What? I threw my tray down when Captain Dickhead tried hurting Pretty Boy over here."

Spencer blushed, pushing his tray toward Derek. "Here, I owe you one."

JJ looked around the cafeteria after getting her lunch. She could sit with the 'popular' kids, but they'd all pity her for her detention, when in reality it had been one of the best days of her lives. If she sat with the jocks, people would assume she was sleeping with at least one of them. Shaking her head, she threw all of those thoughts away. She was done giving a shit about what everyone was going to think of her. For once, she was going to do what was going to make her happy. She walked up to the table they were all sitting at, fidgeting with the tray and chewing on her lip, pointing to the seat next to Garcia.

"Is this one taken?"

They all looked up at her, genuinely surprised. Garcia took her bag off of the seat, setting it on the table. "Not anymore."

She smiled appreciatively, setting her tray down and sitting beside her. She eyed Derek.

"Come on, stealing Spencer's lunch? Looking at the size of the two of you, he could use it a little more."

He mock laughed. "You missed it, Princess. Ramsey over there tried picking a fight with Reid, I choked him, then Prentiss over there gave him something to cry about."

She raised her eyebrows. "What, so are you two a new badass duo?"

Prentiss scoffed. "I could find a better partner."

This was the first of many lunches the five of them had together. Slowly, but surely, they were all forming friendships with each other, though it definitely wasn't an overnight process. Emily was growing out of her badass persona, and coming into her own, no longer feeling a need to have some sort of image to other people so she could establish herself. What especially helped was her mother promising her that there would be no more moves in her high school career. The icing on the cake was when she divorced her stepfather the pervert, and was more focused on fixing her relationship with her daughter. She served her eight Saturday detentions, then didn't have a single one after. JJ threw away any thoughts of giving a damn what other people thought of her, because life was too short for it. She had a bi-weekly shopping date with Garcia, and the two of them enjoyed each other's company. Sometimes, even Emily would join them on it. JJ spent her time with who she wanted to because she wanted to, not because it would give her a certain image. Garcia's parents slowly noticed a change in her, noting that she was happier and bubblier than ever. This was all she ever wanted: her parents to notice her. They did, and for something positive, which was more than she could've asked for. She was able to make friends just by being herself, and it was refreshing. Though she still spent a few school lunches in the library, she spent a good amount of time sitting at a table with her four newest friends.

Derek stayed involved in sports, but he didn't let himself _be_ a jock anymore. Outside of the sport, he was still Derek. He would be tutored by Spencer in Trig, and the two of them would talk afterward. Surprisingly, Spencer knew a lot about sports, even though it was just what he'd read in books. Derek's mother even noticed the change in his behavior, and she approved of the life choices he was making, including the new friends he had. Then there was Spencer. Slowly but surely, he opened up to his new friends, his shyness eventually going away. He had friends now, something he never really had before, and it was good to have people to rely on. He didn't feel a need to hide or make himself unseen in the hallways. Instead, he had friends to walk him to class and keep an eye on him, to be sure he was taken care of and protected. Eventually, the bullying came to a complete stop, and he was able to have a normal high school experience. It amazed all of them that so much had developed just from the five of them happening to be in the school library on a Saturday morning.


End file.
